Breaking Down Vandy

Their SB Nation site, "Anchor of Gold", is where I got the bulk of my info as they break down each position very well.

Our defenses could be pretty even.

I would give them the advantage in the secondary given our CB will either come back injured or rusty.

They have two NFL draft guys in their secondary, one at Saftey and one at CB, which is two more than what we have currently. Of course some of ours may eventually project to the NFL but to be objective you have to give their secondary the nod. Their depth is similar to ours. Both of us only have one guy at each position in the two deep that is SEC ready. They have a lock down CB but the other one seems to be similar to D. Collins in that he is physical and can cover well, but doesnt have good speed and once he's burnt, he's burnt. Having Vince would have really helped since his speed on the outside is better than Logan's.

At LB, they are similar to us. They have an All SEC guy, same as we do. Theirs is their MLB,and our is our OLB. Our other LB has a special niche (Marry against the run), but is weak against the pass, and their other LB is good against the pass, but not so good against the run. Its hard to compare their LB's to ours since we only have two, but their best two seems similar to ours talent wise. I personally think our depth is better, but Im going to not grade that as so to try and balance out my bias. They have similar experience and dont forget they landed the Cunningham kid who will end up being a beast.

On the DL, they have a very good pass rusher that ended the season with 6 sacks in 7 games. Their DE position seems to be very balanced with two guys who have solid size to stop the run and very good athleticism to chase down a runner and put pressure on the QB. Then they have two guys behind them that are more raw but have the same makeup. They are complete DE's and I have no one to compare them to because we dont have those. They dont have anyone as good against the pass as CJ but they are better than everyone else we have against the pass. Very solid at DE, no super stars but solid. It seems like they have a bunch of B. Bennetts at DT and what I mean by that is no one spectacular but they are all solid against the run and know their assignments very well. I think they are a little better at end than they are tackle but both positions are solid. No super stars but very solid. They have very good size across the DL with each DT above 300lb and between 6'2-6'4 while their average DE size is 6'4 260lb.

One thing that I found interesting about their defense is how young they are. They start a lot of seniors, but most of their backups are young underclassmen. They also have a lot of raw talent. When I think of Vandy, I think of a team full of 5th years seniors but this is as they say, "not your father's Vandy"

IF Charles and Senquez come back fully healthy without rust and CJ is very serviceable, as in good for 4-5 QB pressures and 1-2 sacks, then I think our defense gets the edge. But that may be assuming too much. I'd say our DL is better than theirs while their secondary is better than ours with LB's being a draw, but once again, that's me being very modest to balance out my bias.

Offensively is where I changed my opinion on how this game may turn out.

Most people think that QB will be Vandy's weakness and I really dont think that will be true. I watched film on ACS and he isnt going to suck. Whichever team's QB plays the better game will win this game and you dont have to play great to be better than Bro if he throws 3 picks. ACS can move around well, is comfortable in the pocket and seems to have a live arm. The QB position may not win Vandy games, but I dont think it will lose them any either.

Vandy has three "decent" backs but no one stellar and really only one to worry about in Kimbro due to his speed. Tate is built well but think Cordera Eason. The Seymore kid is just like a smaller Tate, runs hard, but not athletic enough to scare anyone. Kimbro is the only player that our back 7 might have a trouble tackling one on one. I think teams could break down our RBs the same way, but none of them are showing out in practices show far. Im not reading any promise like you hear from our RB's similar to Scott, Itavious, and Dodson's reviews. I dont think im being biased saying our RB's are more dangerous than theirs.

Their OL makes me salivate. They have an All SEC tackle playing on the left side. He got that "All SEC" label after playing RT last year but lets just assume he makes a smooth transition over to the left. Their next best OL is their center who is very similar to Swindoll, with perhaps a higher ceiling. Next is their LG who is young but a solid interior OL. Those three are very solid SEC guys. After those three is where we may break ACS in half. Their starting RT is listed at 285lb but is much closer to 255lb. He was a swing tackle for them a little last year but got most of his playing time lining up at TE in jumbo packages. He's very quick and tough but I really dont think he can handle RN or Channing bull rushing him. The guard next to him is currently a freshman at 285lbs. Now he may get beat out by an upperclassmen but regardless, the right side of Vandy's line will be small and not so talented.

Their WR's are similar to ours last year in that they have 3 studs, and they will play those 3 the majority of the game. The Matthews, Boyd duo is one of the best in the nation and they have a small quick kid inside at the slot. We are deeper at WR, but with Vince out, you have to give them the edge as far as the starters go. If ACS can be accurate and has time, it will be hard to shut down their passing attack because their WR are just better than our CBs.

In the end I give us the advantage at DL, RB, and OL. I give them the advantage at DB and WR. On paper Bro should be better than ACS and that will win us the game, but if he comes out and shits the bed then Vandy wins. We arent so much better than them that Bro can just have a bad game. But if we win the T/O battle or at least tie them in turnovers then we should walk away with it by two scores.