i tend to think vu often performs better on the road primarily because players can adopt an ‘us against them’ mentality in a hostile environment, which happens to not be their own stadium.
does any team in P5 football have less of a home field advantage than vu ? I certainly can’t name one.

for this reason, vu comes home with a W this weekend.

When will they announce the game time for homecoming?

The podcast is presented by Dr. Jody Jones, DDS.

Today’s mailbag is sponsored by Sutherland & Belk, a family owned injury law firm. If you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident, give Taylor or Russell a call at 615-846-6200 to see what your rights are and if they can help.

The guest line is presented by Michael Kendrick of The Kendrick Group. Michael is a local carpenter and a lifelong Vandy fan. He builds bookshelves, cabinets, picture frames, furniture and made-to-order items, including a display case for my prized Dale Murphy jersey. I have seen Michael’s work and he’s a true craftsman. If you’re in the market for custom woodwork, give Michael a call at 615.830.9458.

Please submit your questions in this thread.

For the ugliest football uniforms in football history. I just turned on MNF and saw the lime green monstrosities Seattle is wearing as their uniforms. The humanity! The humanity!

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Vandy is the first official visit for the 2024 guard out of Atlanta. Bilal picked up an offer from the Commodores back in December and also holds offers from Georgia State and Xavier.

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Did anyone have trouble downloading tickets to get into the game today? I heard from several people that the app crashed. Person at the gate said there many.

We win this game. Prove me wrong.

After reviewing film, what were some things you caught that you liked and didn’t that you didn’t catch live?
The story of the game was turnovers
He liked the competitive spirit; there were sparks in all three phases
Fourth-down stand early was a shot to grab momentum
They unraveled after the pick-6 and the fumble
They have to step into those moments; “things aren’t going our way so the next group goes on the field with the intention of swinging things. … That’s what winning teams do.”
They have to take control and exert their will in that moment to tip the game back in their favor
Defense held the line early, that gave them a shot going into the second half but they couldn’t capitalize
There were some guys who played well but they can’t inflict the damage they inflicted and come out of it

Devin Lee
He’s expected back this week
He’s coming off injury and the week dictates whether he can play
But they expect he will play
Whatever he gets this weekend, they’ll celebrate

Impressions of NIU
They’ve been at the top of the MAC for a while
Won over 70% of their home games the last decade
This weekend is a 10-year anniversary celebration of their Orange Bowl team
Thomas Hammock has rebuilt well; they were 0-6 in the Covid team and went 9-5 and won the MAC
He’s built culture and identity; they’re tough and physical
QB is a play-maker
The run game loosens their ability to make plays
They were down 24-7 and then led in the fourth quarter (before losing)
They’re a really good program
They’ll have to be at their best; that’s been the message to the team
NIU won at Georgia Tech last year
NIU has beaten eight Power Five teams since 2009

They won at Hawaii this year, at Colorado State last year, does that give them confidence?
Every game is a unique experience
They had a long time to prepare for Hawaii and were there for a week
They have to find grit to go on the road and play to their identity and they’re excited to do it

Are they planning to have Mike Wright start?
Yes
He’s had a number of special performances this season
But it’s an earn-it-everyday mindset for every position
He’s excited for Mike to come out and dial in to the challenges NIU presents
QB play is something that gets scrutiny but they look at and and ask where can they get better and be helpful to him

Will they try to get AJ Swann into the game?
They don’t want a 2-QB strategy
They want players to be able to play through mistakes and find rhythm

Freshmen like Mann and Outtara, what did he think of them?
They handled themselves well
There were flashes
He wants to see them go after more
Having freshmen this involved means you can draw a line of progress
There’s a point in time when they’ll hit the freshman wall
One of the joys of college coaching is to watch it when players are “drinking from a fire hose” early and then the game settles for them

Kane Patterson and Jeremy Lucien played well, will they be in the rotation more?
Both bring competitive experience
Kane made the tackle on the goal line
Said when he celebrated that with Kane he was fearful of getting a head butt
Kane still needs to clean up his game; there are chances to expand his role but he’s till learning the system
Lucien represented himself well after not playing much
They’re going to use him as much as they can

On Castillo and Hernandez at center
They were hopeful last week for Hernandez but he wasn’t responding to the level where they were confident playing him
He’s further along this week and they think he’ll be available; today went well for him
With Hernandez back, they can move Castillo but it’s about the confidence for Hernandez to sustain through the game
Blazek wants the best five on the field
It’s no sweat for Castillo to move back to guard, it’s just how Hernandez does

Skinner and Griffin health
Skinner’s up in the air
Griffin is making progress and is day to day, he’s “hopeful for him.”
Said Griffin was close last week but he and the staff weren’t comfortable playing him
He’s leveled off his load
They hope he’ll play Saturday; “it’s just a matter of time for him.”

How do they get more out of wide receiver?
The real question is how they get more out of the offense
The box has shrunk and they need to get the ball on the perimeter
They need to play in the rhythm of the game
They had shots on Saturday with both QBs and they couldn’t protect
They can’t miss opportunities because they miss on protection

How do they balance the shrinking box with a run-first identity?
They have to be able to counter-punch by throwing
They have a physical OL that creates separation
When the safeties are down and the apex players are monitoring the perimeter they have one one-on-one chances

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Was a freshman All-American at Colorado State and returned punts for CSU last year until Vandy knocked him out in the game. His old WR coach and OC are at Vandy now.

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The video is processing and should be available shortly.

Thanks to those of you who reached out, and there were a number of you. I could have either added about a dozen moderators (which seems excessive since I already had a couple active) or I could have picked a smaller number and went with that. So in this case I went with the first five to contact me, they are:

DustyOrleans
cmoore83
Showingold
glh4VU
Ingold

Thanks to everyone for your interest in participating and in our community.

Opens at VU -2.5(Ceasers via Vegas Insider)

He has 2 P5 wind in 2 years to Clark’s 0 at a program that maybe he thinks been lower than ours. Discuss.

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Definitely doesn’t hurt having these guys on your campus.

It's rare to get to make fun of Alabama, Texas A&M, and Notre Dame, especially in the same week.

The SEC shorts crew wasted little time.

Enjoy!!

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This is dependent on flawless in-the-moment spotting (which is difficult) but here's the participation report from last night. I'm guessing it could change based on film review.

1-McAllister, Elijah, 11-Harris, Justin, 12-Truesdell, Errington, 13-Taylor, CJ, 13-Swann, AJ, 15-Lloyd, Chase, 18-Kyle, Logan, 19-Patterson, Kane, 20-Barton, Jack, 22-Howse IV, John, 24-Griffin, Rocko, 25-Lucien, Jeremy, 28-Sannieniola, Steven, 3-Skinner Jr., Quincy, 31-Spencer, Michael, 34-Richard, Ja'Dais, 36- Bulovas, Joseph, 38-Ugochukwu, Jeffrey, 38-Faris, Will, 39-Lutz, Cooper, 40-Eckels, Tommy, 42-Patterson, Langston, 45-Hayball, Matt, 46-Gillespie, Chase, 47- Schelling, Wesley, 52-Weaver, Trent, 56-Ketschek, Jake, 58-Cecil, Myles, 6-Boddie, Devin, 66-Brammer, Jacob, 7-Sewell, Marlen, 71-Pitchford, Gage, 73-Clark, Charlie, 76-Morgan, Grayson, 77-Uzebu, Junior, 84-Ball, Justin, 85-DeCoursey, Joel, 92-Agu, Darren, 93-Diakite, BJ, 97-Wesley, Kevo

Ken Seals repping Vandy football.

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The podcast is presented by Dr. Jody Jones, DDS.

Today’s mailbag is sponsored by Sutherland & Belk, a family owned injury law firm. If you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident, give Taylor or Russell a call at 615-846-6200 to see what your rights are and if they can help.

The guest line is presented by Michael Kendrick of The Kendrick Group. Michael is a local carpenter and a lifelong Vandy fan. He builds bookshelves, cabinets, picture frames, furniture and made-to-order items, including a display case for my prized Dale Murphy jersey. I have seen Michael’s work and he’s a true craftsman. If you’re in the market for custom woodwork, give Michael a call at 615.830.9458.

Will has watched the game a couple of times and is going to join me sometime after Clark Lea's press conference; we are hoping that's Tuesday afternoon. Please get your questions in.

Scott Frost. Want to know how dumb this move was? Nebraska could have saved $7.5 million to fire him if they had just waited until Oct. 1. I can guarantee you waiting another 20 days would not have mattered in the direction of your program.

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Continue to close for the Braves? And we use the word close loosely.

Looks like we had an official this weekend.
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