Commodores Improvement Must Continue During Bye Week
The Vanderbilt Commodores suffered perhaps the lowest low of any team this college football season-Tennessee's and their loss to Georgia State was worse, but I'm not hear to rub that in, much- when they were blown out at home by a bad UNLV team.
Fast forward seven days and that same Commodores team was the most improved team in college football following their home upset of then #22 Missouri on Saturday.
Head coach Derek Mason and his staff did arguably their best coaching job of the season in one week, finding a spark at quarterback, teaching a defense how to tackle and most importantly, instilling a look of confidence in a team that looked to have zero as they walked off the same field seven days earlier.
How did they do it?
Ke'Shawn Vaughn was asked that post game Saturday.
"I felt like we keyed in on us this week, it was details and do your job, and we felt like people have been trying to overstep their job, so today the focus was just doing your job," said Vaugh. "Clearly everybody did their job and we came out with the win."
Was it really just that simple?
Those of us outside the locker room will never truly know that answer, but results suggest it just might be.
Now this team and coaching staff must continue to improve over the next two weeks as they enjoy a bye week and prepare for the final stretch of the season.
A trip to "The Swamp" to face the Florida Gators follows the bye week and Mason & company won't have the element of surprise they enjoyed versus Missouri with the insertion of the mobile Mo Hasan at quarterback.
Florida has seen it, and the Gator defense is one of the best in the country.
Regardless of the improvement seen Saturday, the Commodores will be a decided underdog-again- when the visit Gainesville, and it will be hard to see how they can win but then no one thought- myself included- they would win the last one.
In all honesty, what you, me or anyone else thinks doesn't really matter as long as those guys in the Vanderbilt locker room believe in themselves and their abilities.
Can they improve enough to shock the SEC East again?
We'll find out in two weeks.
