Johnson, Vandy Looking To Take Care of Business Against Bulldogs

If the Vanderbilt Commodores have any thoughts of payback against Mississippi State for ruining their perfect season last year, they’re doing a good job of just going about their business.

Wisely, they’re not playing this Saturday up as anything more than it is.

“Just another game on our schedule,” as senior linebacker Patrick Benoist put it.

 Just another conference game, more specifically, which the Commodores need to win to do the things they want to do this year, namely go to another bowl and improve on last year’s 7-6 record.

Part of the reason that the gaudy 5-0 mark ended up being 7-6 was that the Bulldogs ended Vanderbilt’s streak in Starkville, holding the Commodores to just 107 yards of total offense in a 17-14 win.

“We came out a little flat as a team all together,” Benoist said. “Offense, defense, and special teams, we weren’t ready to play that game last year.”

No, they weren’t.  I happened to be at Davis Wade Stadium that fine fall day last October.

The only thing worse than watching the Commodores attempt to have a semblance of an offense for 60 minutes was the drive to Starkville and back. Motoring for five hours on the Natchez Trace Parkway going down there was bad enough; doing it twice in one day was something else entirely.

I digress. Anyway, the Commodores expect to be ready this time. Benoist, the only defensive co-captain still in action after the loss of Ryan Hamilton, pinpointed mental preparedness as the key to not repeating last year’s performance.

That, and not letting Mississippi State’s dangerous running back Anthony Dixon loose. He rushed for 107 yards, the same amount of offense managed by the entire Vanderbilt team, in the victory last season to help control the clock.

“We’ve got to get everything sharp and crisp and ready to go,” Benoist said. “We’ve got to plug up those holes.”

Do that, and the Commodores should sail over the Bulldogs.

Seriously, how often is Vanderbilt a nine-point favorite against an SEC team? How often is Vanderbilt favored in a conference game, period?

Here’s the main reason why: Mississippi State’s defense is pretty awful. Auburn lit the Bulldogs up for nearly 600 yards of offense in a 49-24 rout last week. War Eagle's offense doesn't really strike fear in the hearts of the rest of the SEC, either.

In comparison, the Commodores played 9th-ranked LSU fairly tightly last weekend. Their defense in the second half was particularly impressive. They’re well beyond moral victories at this point, but that at least showed they are the better team going into this Saturday.

Reilly Lauer will be most likely starting at right tackle in place of injured James Williams, lost for the season after breaking his ankle against the Tigers. Not only does Lauer want to clean Mississippi State’s clock but he has a specific plan on how to do so.

“We’re looking to take it and pound the ball down their throats pretty much,” Lauer said.

Nice. They should.

Zac Stacy, a true freshman, is among the top running backs in the nation right now with 222 yards rushing through two games, and Kennard Reeves ran like a freight train during limited action against Western Carolina and LSU.

That kind of one-two punch, along with the dual abilities of quarterback Larry Smith leading the no-huddle offense, should make for a tiring day for the beleaguered Bulldog defense.

Coach Bobby Johnson remembers last year’s game clearly, however, so there’s no way the Commodores will walk in with heads held high simply because they’re the better team on paper.

“I thought they did a good job of controlling the ball,” Johnson said. “We had some execution problems on offense and didn’t help ourselves. When you’re not executing on offense and they’re keeping the ball away from you, every series is extremely important.”

Asked about any notions of revenge on his team’s part for last year’s debacle, however, the answer was predictable from a man who’s never been much for that emotional aspect of the game.

“No,” he said bluntly.

 He’s about fundamentals, taking care of the football, finishing your assignments. That’s what’s won Vanderbilt games and that’s what will work on Saturday. With rain in the forecast in Nashville this weekend, those sorts of things are even more important than usual.

“Do what you’re taught to do, do it well, hope the other guys mess up, knock it loose from them,” he said.

Sounds simple enough.

Like their business-minded coach, the Commodores don’t need to worry about anything other than getting a solid win to get back to .500 in conference play and some momentum heading into the brutal part of their schedule starting in October.

It’s a golden opportunity for a rebound after last week’s tough loss.