Extremely proud of our football team, NFL,MLB, PGA, VU basketball, women’s tennis, men’ golf
November 8, 2015
“You look at it, we’re just as good as Florida.”
Coach Mason in his post game press conference after our very close loss to the 8-1 and East Division champion Florida Gators.
I agree with Coach. The defense was exceptional yesterday. Four turnovers (including one on special teams), five sacks; we were awesome on defense. Zach Cunningham is playing like an All-American at inside backer. Just phenomenal job by Coach Mason and our defensive staff of stopping the Gators’ offense, which had only turned the ball over six times in their previous eight games, and was averaging over 30 points per game. Losing 9-7 to the Gators at the Swamp with a chance to win it at the end is something to be very proud of. We are now 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the SEC with some very winnable games coming up at home against Kentucky (next Saturday, 11-14, 3 PM CT/4 PM ET, SEC Network), and then at home vs A&M, before we travel to Tennessee to finish off the season. Win all three and we’re in a bowl game, and I see that as possible, even though it seemed daunting after last week’s loss at Houston. The Kentucky game is very winnable. A&M is too. And UT is not out of the question.
We have a younger, but growing team that is figuring out how to win. And that’s exciting for this year and the future. Just need to lock down these recruits come signing day and add four or five more and we’ll have a very solid ’16 class.
If we get it done next Saturday against the Wildcats, it’ll be a huge boost to the players. They then will know that, going into a game that they can and WILL win for the rest of the season. Kentucky lost at Georgia, 27-3 yesterday, A&M lost at home to Auburn, 26-10 last night, and UT just got by South Carolina, 27-24, at home, and needed a late fumble recovery deep in their own territory to keep from possibly being upset. So all three of these games are attainable.
Believe strongly in what Coach Mason and the coaches are doing on defense, and Coach Ludwig is just trying to find ways to get us over the top on offense. Johnny struggled a little yesterday, but he did take care of the ball, which was huge. We had an unfortunate punt, but as Coach Mason said, that’s football, it’s unpredictable. Johnny needs to keep practicing hard and working to improve under Coach Ludwig. He will. Still believe in him. Ralph had a beautiful 74 yard scamper for a seven. We ran the ball pretty effectively. Ralph and the o line played really hard.
So I remain highly optimistic about the remainder of this season and going forward into the future. We just need to take care of business against Kentucky. We’re favored by 2 1/2.
Will have JMatt report tomorrow. The Eagles play at the Cowboys tonight on Sunday Night Football (7:20 PM CT/8:20 PM ET, NBC), Jay and Bears at Chargers tomorrow night on Monday Night Football (7:30 PM CT/8:30 PM ET, ESPN). Will see about Zac and Casey Hayward as well.
Luke List playing well at the Sanderson Farms tournament on the PGA Tour in Jackson, Ms. Good to see Luke on the tour. He was the 22nd out of the last 25 to make it from the Web.com playoffs. Proud of Luke. He’s worked hard.
Luke at -5, tied for 50th right now. He’s +1 today through 10. They got behind on this tournament because of a ton of rain in Jackson yesterday, so they’re in the third round. They’ll finish up tomorrow. Luke and JC in the PGA tournament next week in Mexico. It’s the OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mejico. Good to see Luke and Jon competing. Brandt will get back after it soon. Fun to have three of our guys out there.
Rumors have it that the Cubs are in the lead in the DP sweepstakes right now. David will be commanding a large contract and he’s earned it, though would like to see him have more postseason success. The Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals and Blue Jays are also involved. Something will happen in December.
Not sure about Pedro, what his situation is in Pittsburgh, but I thought he had a really good finish to the season, both hitting and fielding. Wouldn’t mind seeing him on another team, somebody like the Cubs, where he’d be more appreciated.
Sonny will be back with the A’s. Still got a year left on his rookie contract. Hoping Mike Minor can get back for the Braves. Mike still a great pitcher who battled an injury this season. It may have been a Tommy John injury. Anyway, he’s coming back to Atlanta..
Speaking of baseball, our VU team should be loaded once again. Our freshmen class is the top rated class in the country by Perfect Game. We have good players coming back. Our 2016 class is No.2 in the country by Perfect Game and our 2017 class is No.1 in the country. Corbs is doing his typical terrific job of recruiting. The goal at Vanderbilt is to win SEC and national championships and we will continue to pursue that goal every single season. The 2015-16 season looks very promising with players like Bryan Reynolds, Jeren Kendall, Will Toffey, Penn Murfee and Ro Coleman returning in the lineup, and a rotation which will include John Kilichowski and Kyle Wright, depending on what Corbs wants to do with Kyle. And closer Hayden Stone will return. Will be awesome to get Hayden back from his arm injury that kept him out almost the entire season last year. Will have more with Corbs and the team coming up.
Festus Ezeli is going off for the Golden State Warriors. He was 7-for-7 from the field Thursday night in a win for the Warriors and had 12 points and 11 rebounds last night for Golden State in another victory. Golden State is 7-0 and look better than last year. Fes is a key player for them. John Jenkins has played some for the Dallas Mavericks. He is on the team. Would love to see JJ get a shot.
Our team tips it off next Friday against Austin Peay. Will have more on our team later in the week. Very excited about this group we have this year. We have size, we can really shoot it, and we have great depth. This could be a very special year. If Kevin has time for me, will try to get an interview.
Excited for Coach Geoff McDonald and our defending women’s tennis national championship team. Geoff does an amazing job. Also looking forward to our men’s golf under super coach Scott Limbaugh.
Will have more tomorrow after Sunday Night Football.