Vandy Fans talk about the game

(1) Starting 3-0 how optimistic are you of getting to a bowl game this year? How far do you think you can go?

More optimistic than I was before the season started, but it will take a win this weekend for me to come off of my 5-7 preseason prediction. I will say that I don't think there's a team on our schedule, other than Florida, that we can't beat.-vandystu

Pretty optimistic-rEvUrB

Very optimistic. As the season has progressed, only UF seems a little out of reach at this point. If (big if) we can stay healthy, I can see up to 8 wins... with a little luck maybe more. I feel like save UF (and we just seem to always match up well with UGA) the SEC East is really not that different from top to bottom this year.-theWinners


Plain and simple, if we lose Saturday, we don't go to a bowl game. In fact, I would say the loser of the game won't go. Looking at the remainder of our games realistically, I don't see 3-4 more wins. If we beat the Rebs, we can certainly beat State. That's 5 wins right there.-DoreFan

Less than 50/50. Better shot next season.-Thunder Gulch

Not too optimistic. This is still a team that gives up significantly more yardage than it gains. We could get some more breaks here and there and win 6, but I'd feel a lot better if we could develop a passing game.-PhilipVU94


Most are still cautious to predict how the season will end. The up side is that VU is 3-0, has been the underdog twice, beat the spread by a huge margin in all three games, and will eventually get at least two of its key players back by midseason. A bowl game is 50/50.-Mike Rapp

Feeling good, but I've been here before. Won't count chickens until I see what bowl we're going to.-ORDore


I'm very optimistic about this ball club. I see us winning against OM, Duke, MS ST., and Kentucky to go 7-5.-CrazyCommodore

Getting more optimistic by the day. If we take care of business this weekend I say we will go bowling.-cjdore

So far, so good. In fact, an 8-4 season isnt out of the question, but I'll go with 7-5.-paulgodores

There is only one team on the schedule that on paper we can't beat. That would be Florida. We beat GA two years ago and had them beat last year but for a late game screwup. Same with Tennessee. Ole Miss game is always a war and always winable by either team. Who makes the least mistakes. Auburn looks bad, always plays bad in Nashville, and if we can score, we have a chance. Duke: enough said. MSU, if we can score... Tennessee loses to UCLA and struggles with UAB? Wake Forest, a good team but I think with a perfect game we can win. Not saying we will, just that we won't go into games as in the past saying there is no hope. Finally, Florida. Doesn't look promising, but it is at home and that is why they play the game.-Cdore78

Mildly optimistic. There are many things that could go wrong but this team has a resilience that VU teams have not had in my 30 + years of following them-AlbertCamus

Being a multi-decade Dore fan, I try not to get my hopes up too much. I hope to heck we make it this year, but the odds, IMHO, are less than 50-50, even after a 3-0 start.-geeznotagain

I think Vandy fans are (realistically) optimistic about a bowl. Before the season I predicted a 4-0 start and an 8-4 season record, and I think both are looking good right now. A loss in Oxford would be a major blow to the bowl hopes though. And of course the last 2 times Vandy started 3-0, the team failed to make it to a bowl, so that's going to be in the back of people's minds.-BrentVU

I predicted 8-4 pre-season, and I'm sticking with it.-vandorawelty

Fairly, I'd say the odds are 50/50 at this point. Up from maybe 10% preseason. Win this one and the odds go to 66%.-SteveE79

I honestly think 7 wins is a reality this year. So yes we go bowling. (And I'm the pessimist of the board)-GluttonforPunishment

Lets go 6-6. maybe 7.-staceyjane

(2) What name will Rebel fans be cursing at the end of the game on Sat?

If we win, Chris Nickson. If we lose, Houston Nutt.-vandystu

DJ Moore-rEvUrB

DJ Moore-theWinners

Either Chris Nickson or D.J. Moore or Houston Nutt.-DoreFan

DJ Moore or Jared Hawkins-Thunder Gulch

Ed Orgeron, duh. I expect OM to win so I don't know who else they'd be cursing.-PhilipVU94

Nickson. He will either get 120 yards on the ground, or Vandy loses.-Mike Rapp

Chris Nickson. He's due a big passing effort.-ORDore

Houston Nutt-CrazyCommodore

Rebs will be cursing 3 names. QB Nickson is elusive and will have you cursing all day long. DJ Moore Will pick off a pass and may take it to the house. And finally Bryant Hahnfeldt will continue to kick the lights out.-cjdore

D.J. Moore.-paulgodores

Jared Hawkins ...who will have chewed up a lot of clock behind what was supposed to be a novice OL.-AlbertCamus

I don't know, do you curse even if you win? I expect the Rebs to win, but I think D J Moore and Langford will have good games. I expect our offense to be inconsistent, so I doubt you'll be be doing much cursing when you're on "D".-geeznotagain

D.J. Moore is Vanderbilt's best player. However, the way Chris Nickson has performed the last two years against Ole Miss, watch out for him too.-BrentVU

whichever of your DBs lets our receivers get behind them for big plays-vandorawelty

Moore, Nickson.-SteveE79

Greg Billinger-GluttonforPunishment

Snead-staceyjane

(3) What do you think of the Rebels this year? Who worries you the most?

2 huge improvements from the past few seasons: 1) a coach not named Orgeron, and 2) a real QB. Ted Cain.-vandystu

Improved, Snead-rEvUrB

Only got to watch part of the Wake game and came away impressed. The team seems to be much more of a team this year. Snead.-theWinners

Obviously, your QB worries me. You guys gave Wake everything they could handle.-DoreFan

Borderline bowl contender. Your OL.-Thunder Gulch

A rapidly-improving team with a decent chance of getting to a bowl. I keep hearing that Snead is the greatest thing ever, but I suppose I'm worried that he might grow into fulfilling the hype. I'm also worried about Hardy now that he'll be back. -PhilipVU94

Ole Miss is adjusting to having a legit coach. They have not played anyone who has Vanderbilt's defensive strengths, and it waits to be seen whether they are better than last year.-Mike Rapp

Don't pay enough attention. Effort at Wake was nice, though.-ORDore

The Rebels are a very pass oriented offensive and that will come back to bite them against the dominant SEC teams this year-CrazyCommodore

Rebs are improved from last year with the addition of a quality QB. Snead's abbilities behind center worries me the most but our CBs are VERY talented.-cjdore

Jevan Snead.-paulgodores

OM is much improved. Interestingly, I am one of the tiny minority that thinks Coach O wasn't half bad. He left the cupboard full for sure.-AlbertCamus

You've improved significantly over last year. Snead is a stud.-geeznotagain

The Rebels have been almost totally transformed by the addition of Jevan Snead. He has a major-league arm, and gives OM the chance in any game they play. His performance against Wake Forest was terrific. Also I think Ole Miss has some physicial specimens... they just weren't very well-coached last year.--BrentVU

you seem MUCH improved, mainly because of Snead who is possibly the best QB in the SEC except for Tebow (maybe even better than Tebow long term because of his impressive elusiveness)-vandorawelty

Much improved. Snead.-SteveE79

Sneed worried me as well as the RBs. You guys should have beaten Wake. But you looked very impressive in defeat.-GluttonforPunishment

much better. running game is much improved.-staceyjane

(4) What do you think of the Nutt hire?

Not sure what to think of Nutt. He's seemingly always overachieving or underachieving. No middle ground. Certainly better than Orgeron, though.-vandystu

Good hire-rEvUrB

An improvement over CEO, but that's not saying a whole lot. I was just never a huge believer even when he was at Arkansas. I believe that he can make Ole Miss solid. Don't know how much more than that he'll be able to achieve.-theWinners

I think it was a steal and a tremendous upgrade (let's just say I don't think Orgeron was remotely a good coach) for Ole Miss. Houston Nutt is a great coach, recruiter and (from what I have heard from my family in Bentonville, AR) a great guy.-DoreFan

Addition by subtraction. Raises them from the bottom to the middle, but I don't think they are going to win any championships anytime soon.-Thunder Gulch

Good, and in light of where Orgeron was taking the program a spectacular coup. I don't think he'll prove capable of taking OM to where its fans think it should be, though.-PhilipVU94

Nutt's hiring, IMO, was a good strategic decision, but not a very exciting hire. But almost anyone would have been an improvement over Orgeron, who never should have been hired in the first place.-Mike Rapp

He seemed to get things done at Arkansas. Stirs the west up, no doubt. Could be a good one.-ORDore

They will see in about 3 years. -CrazyCommodore

Vandy fans have never really liked Nutt. He issued demeaning comments about VU while at Ark and when former Chancellor Gee was trying to improve academics within college sports, Nutt said something to the effect that Gee was trying to destroy college sports. On the field, he never schemes anything that we can't handle.-cjdore

It's definitely a step up from Ed Orgeron.-paulgodores

Nutt alienated Hog nation in a pretty profound way. Rebs may find out why before long.-AlbertCamus

I think he's a very good coach; I think you could have done a lot worse.-geeznotagain

Coach Nutt was a good hire for Ole Miss. Obviously Ed Orgeron was a very poor hire.-BrentVU

Nutt is obviously an experienced veteran but I wouldn't want him at Vandy. He's sort of a Coach O plus 10 IQ pts.-vandorawelty

Good hire. Drove the Ark anti-Nutt people bonkers, so I give it great entertainment level. Also a solid football coach - you could have done a lot worse.-SteveE79

Very good. He can coach.-GluttonforPunishment

Houston "Deez" Nuttz is an average SEC coach.-staceyjane

(5) Do you consider Ole Miss a major Rival?

Not really. I consider Tennessee and Kentucky to be the only "major" rivals. I do think Ole Miss is our biggest SEC West rival, and I think it should be a competitive game most years, as it has been over the past decade.-vandystu

A rival in that it's a game I usually think our chances are decent at winning, beyond that, no-rEvUrB

No. I only consider UT to be a rival, and at this point, we've got to work to get it back where it should be.-theWinners

I don't know if I could classify it as a rival, although we are certainly more competitive against the Rebs than we are against most of the rest of the SEC, so maybe it should be a bigger rival. When I think of Ole Miss, I think of the Egg Bowl or maybe you guys facing Tub-o-lies each year (I heard an Ole Miss fan call Tubs that and I thought it was funny). When I think of the team I hate the most, it's gotta be the vols first, second and third and Bama 4th, but we don't play them every year any more. I just don't see the hatred between the Rebs and Dores, so that's why I say it's not a major rivalry. It is almost always a nail biter though, isn't it?-DoreFan

We'd rather beat UT in football or UK in basketball, but this does appear to be the swing game every season since it's early and neither team really knows how good they are.-Thunder Gulch

Yes. OM has been our most evenly-matched opponent over the past 5 years.-PhilipVU94

Not even close to a major rival. JMHO.-Mike Rapp

By our standards, yes. We play every year, it's almost always competitive, I gotta say so.-ORDore

Yes, the OM fans are amung the worst in the league and they love to run there mouth like they have the best team in the SEC.-CrazyCommodore

Yes we do consider Ole Miss a Major rival. If we don't beat the rebs we don't go bowling.-cjdore

Nah; the games are always competitive, but I bear no animosity whatsoever.-paulgodores

Yes. OM frequently is the best team we have a chance of beating. We are probably more up to play OM than is any other conference team save MSU.-AlbertCamus

No, not really.-geeznotagain

The Vanderbilt-Ole Miss rivalry is a "nice" rivalry rather than a bitter one. The fans generally respect each other. May it always be so!-BrentVU

Ole Miss is definitely a major rival.-vandorawelty

I think it was Woody who said "How do you expect to have a winning season if you can't beat Ole Miss". I'm sure you guys look at it the same way. The one game each year every VU fan wants to win is against UT, after that all wins are precious. Ole Miss and VU are normally fairly close in talent, so it's a key game, when we know we'll have games later in the year where we will be at a talent deficit (due to injuries and depth, or because we're playing UF).-SteveE79

1. UT 2. MTSU 3. KY 4. Ole Miss-GluttonforPunishment

yep-staceyjane

(6) Make your prediction: Final Score:

24-13, Ole Miss.-vandystu

Vandy 24-14-rEvUrB

Vandy, 30-24-theWinners

Ugh...I refuse to predict a final score. I could see a variety of outcomes. My hope is we have the ball last winning or with a chance to win it. If you press me, I'll say Ole Miss by a touchdown.-DoreFan

Ole MS 23-17-Thunder Gulch

OM 24 VU 17.-PhilipVU94

Visitors 31, Grovers 27-ORDore

Vandy- 28, Ole Miss- 20-CrazyCommodore

VU 31 - OM 28...... and may it be injury free-cjdore

Vanderbilt-38, Ole Miss-34.-paulgodores

VU 28 OM 24 -AlbertCamus

Rebs 31, Dores 17.-geeznotagain

Holding off until Friday for a final score prediction. But since I predicted a 4-0 start before the season, I guess I'll have to predict a Vandy win.-BrentVU

Vandy 35- Ole Miss 21 (we get at least one score from our D). Nickson will have his best day yet in the air as he shows what he can do to compete with Snead.-vandorawelty

I'll take 24-21, VU.-SteveE79

35-31 Ole Miss (Sorry, I already told you I'm pessimistic.)-GluttonforPunishment

3-2.-staceyjane