Vanderbilt Looks to Bounce Back from History Making Season

Last season was one to remember for the Vanderbilt Commodores after ending their bowl drought of over 20 years.

Now the question is: can they do it again?

It's definitely a possibility, thanks to an SEC East that looks pretty ordinary outside of the Florida Gators.

Georgia has a ton of replacements to make on the offensive side of the ball, South Carolina has been on the decline for a while now, Tennessee looks to be a train wreck on offense as well, and Kentucky is just Kentucky.

The schedule will definitely not be a cake walk, as it never is in the SEC. Vanderbilt has tough road games at Florida, LSU and Tennessee.

They also have the challenge of taking on a very improved Georgia Tech that will be an interesting test for Vanderbilt at home.

After watching Larry Smith perform the way he did at quarterback in the Music City Bowl to lead Vanderbilt to a win over Boston College, he will most likely be the starter in the opener against Western Carolina. Senior Mackenzie Adams will have to play the worst-case scenario again this season.

The rushing attack won't raise any eyebrows with Jared Hawkins, but he always seems to get positive yards on first and second down.

A big factor to whether the Commodores see another bowl game this year rests greatly on how the wide receivers perform this year.

Three wide receivers from last season won't be in the lineup this season. George Smith and Sean Walker were lost to graduation, and Justin Wheeler tore his ACL, which will most likely tragically end his season before it gets started.

There is still a lot of buzz surrounding the receivers they have left, including Connecticut transfer Terence Jeffers. Jeffers led Connecticut with 582 yards receiving last season.

The defense has always kept Vanderbilt in games in the past, and look for them to do that again this season since the offense definitely won't be one of the best.

Lucky for Vanderbilt, there's not a whole lot of great offenses that they will face this season outside of Florida, LSU and Georgia Tech.

The defense will have a ton of experience with all four defensive lineman and two linebackers returning as starters. Linebackers Chris Marve and Patrick Benoist had a combined 214 tackles in 2008.

As good as the defensive line and the linebackers will be, the secondary might be the complete opposite.

With the exception of senior Myron Lewis, the secondary will consist of no starters from last season and little experience or depth. The secondary will most likely be one injury away from being in a lot of trouble.

Even though the secondary looks shaky, there is still a lot to look forward to this upcoming season if you're a Vanderbilt fan, and Bobby Johnson definitely looks to have this program finally going in the right direction.