When the average college fan thinks of the football landscape in the great state of Tennessee, a few things instinctively come to mind: Orange and White, Neyland Stadium, the Volunteer Navy and the Pride of the Southland Band. Notice a trend here? All of these things come out of a certain program located in Knoxville. However, if one were to look atop the current South Eastern Conference football standings, they would be in for a Rocky Top-sized surprise.
Yes, the \other"" program in Tennessee, the perennially downtrodden Vanderbilt Commodores, are enjoying their finest start to a season since they jumped out of the gates 4-0 in 1984. Even more impressive may be the fact that the last time Vandy started off their SEC campaign at 2-0 was during the Eisenhower administration back in 1956. So, needless to say, the long-suffering Commodore fans have every reason to be pigskin crazy for the first time in years.
The renewed energy surrounding the Vanderbilt program is clearly visible all over campus, indeed the entire city of Nashville. Vanderbilt has long been considered to be devoid of almost any semblance of an exciting pre-game atmosphere. This reputation was recently driven home by Sports Illustrated on Campus' ranking of Vanderbilt as 11th out of the 12 SEC schools in this department. However, this is slowly starting to change. Closet Vandy fans are coming out of the woodwork and heading off to Dudley Field in droves, wearing their long-hidden black and gold in anticipation of game day with an enthusiasm that has not been seen in years.
Though Vanderbilt Stadium's capacity is only 39,790, by far the smallest in the SEC, the team constantly struggles to fill it. On the rare occasions it does approach capacity, like last Saturday's attendance of 35,000 in a victory over Ole Miss, the majority of fans in the stands would be from the opposing team. But with the team's fortunes on the rise, opposing fans are finding tickets tougher to come by.
For all the positive momentum the program now has, things looked much more bleak only nine months ago. After suffering through a disparaging 2-9 season marred by numerous games lost in the final minutes, the Commodores had to endure something even more painful during the off-season. On Dec. 26 the team was struck by the tragic loss of one their leaders and arguably best players in senior-to-be running back Kwane Doster, who was shot to death while sitting in a car in his hometown of Tampa. Suddenly, the team's struggles on the field were put in a proper perspective and football became less of a priority.
But for all the pain they had to endure dealing with the loss of their friend, the team emerged better for it, with a renewed commitment to football as they decided to honor Doster's memory by becoming a better football team. If their first three games are any indication, that is exactly what they have done. Led by preseason All-SEC quarterback Jay Cutler, who was surprisingly chosen ahead of Florida's heralded Chris Leak, Vandy sports a balanced offense that has put up nearly 28 points-per-game against good competition. Cutler in particular has been impressive and had a breakout game against Ole Miss when he set a career mark with 372 all-purpose yards. Running back Jeff Jennings also posted a career day with 103 yards on the ground and had a personal-best three rushing touchdowns.
With Vanderbilt playing their next two games versus Richmond and Middle Tennessee State, two very winnable games, the Commodores could march out to 5-0 and find themselves one victory shy of becoming bowl eligible, something Nashville has not seen in quite some time. For a team with little football tradition and a history littered with blowout losses, leaving the stadium each Saturday to chants of ""VU, VU, VU. We love you,"" is a refreshing change.
Ryan Hessenthaler is a sophomore planning to major in Journalism. He can be reached at hessenthaler@wisc.edu.
