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Vanderbilt Can't Get Over Bowl Hump

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 9, 2008

Updated: 11/09/2008 12:46 am

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Vanderbilt remains one victory short of being bowl eligible and making its first postseason appearance since 1982.

The Commodores won five consecutive games to open their season, but they now have lost four straight.

This is familiar ground.

Sixteen times during the past five seasons, Vandy could have won its sixth game of the year and gone to the postseason. Each time, the Commodores have come up short.

This season, there is still optimism. Vanderbilt still has Kentucky, Tennessee and Wake Forest remaining.

"Obviously, everybody's human around here, so you do have some doubts, but I think we're still very confident that we can do some great things with this season, and we're not tanking it, if that's what everybody's worried about," Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said of building a winning attitude. "We've got some hard games coming up, and it'll be tough duty, but we're going to work at it very hard."

At Furman, Johnson won two Southern Conference titles, made four Division I-AA playoff appearances and had a national runner-up finish before coming to Vandy in 2002.

His 25 victories are the most by a Commodores coach since Art Guepe won 39 games from 1953-62, but Johnson is 0-8 the past two seasons when Vandy has had a chance to reach six victories.

Game Day

Sun Sports, the cable network that partners with the Gators, will debut a new "Under the Lights" on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. that looks at game day at The Swamp. The show will focus on the time and manpower involved for each home game.

Walk This Way

The "Gator Walk" continues to establish itself as a growing tradition for the Gators.

Florida fans in orange-and-blue sweatshirts and jackets started gathering outside the north end zone entrance about 4 p.m. to welcome the Gators as they arrived almost an hour later.

Fans form two lines for players to walk through as they make their way from the team bus into the stadium.

Staying Focused

Although their spot in the SEC Championship Game is guaranteed, the Gators will try not to celebrate.

To keep alive hopes of playing into national championship contention, the Gators also have to take care of business against South Carolina next week, and also against The Citadel and Florida State.

"There will be no talk whatsoever about championships," Florida coach Urban Meyer said. "There will be no talk about anything other than how we prepare for a game."

Welcome Back

Since David Price was last on campus at Vanderbilt about a year ago, the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher has established himself as a certified major-league talent, pitched in the World Series and introduced Barack Obama in a pre-election rally in Tampa.

Saturday, the former Commodore was scheduled to conduct the Florida-Vanderbilt pregame coin flip.

Price was warmed up and ready, but he didn't get the call. The game official didn't hand over the coin.

Nevertheless, Price received a warm welcome home. "It's good to be back," he said.

Mick Elliott

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