I remember when they all of those dudes on the field and it still wasn't enough to stop Hicks. Man, I miss Hicks. That guy was the most amazing player to watch before he got hurt. Him and Rashard Lee tore up Bama in 02 but 2001 was a great season.
As far as our players this year that are playmakers for us....
QB - Brent is playing very well. He threw 330 on Illinois last week.
Ed Batties, Richie James, Terry Pettis at WR - They all have had TD's and many yards thus far.
RB - Jordan Parker, Bryson and we get Shane Tucker back. Shane is a beast. All 3 are good RB's
LB - TT Barber. Good tackler and will knock the crap out of people. Luckett is a baller too.
S - Kevin Byard - One pick away from school record. One pick six away from being tied with Terell Buckley for the NCAA record. CUSA preseason team starter and is on other watchlists for bigger awards as well.
CB - Jeremy Cutrer - Former 4 star LSU recruit and has already been a huge boost to the secondary and has 3 picks and a kick block so far.
The OL is averaging around 6'.4" and 310 pounds. We aren't a small team anymore. Same goes on the DL. Our OL has to block better than they did vs. Illinois.
We have a lot of legit talent on this team. If we can execute like we do at home and limit mistakes, I think it will be a long day for the Dores. Regardless, it will be a great game and you have to be there. Should be a great night in JRF.
Nice, thanks for the overview of the team.
For Vandy:
Johnny McCrary is a 4 star recruit at QB and is now a redshirt soph. He was awful in the WKU game and the Georgia game, but the past two games, has been pretty solid. Big guy, pocket passer, with some ability to scramble.
RB is a disaster. We have three guys that run sub 5.0 forty yard dashes, but I bet it's just barely so. Ralph Webb is our starter, he's capable, but slow. Had almost 1,000 yards last year. Our OL is pretty bad too, so this is a concern.
WR - Trent Sherfield is the man. Former 4 star recruit has turned into a monster (had 16 catches for 240 yds against APSU). He's fun to watch and I bet ends up in the NFL in a few years. TEs are a strength for us and Steven Scheu is the man here.
On defense, we have a very good one. Playmakers are Adam Butler and Stephen Weatherly up front, and we have as good of a front 7 as I've seen at VU in some time. Playmakers at LB (Herring and Cunningham, waiting to get Bowden back (4 star MLB) this week hopefully) and in the secondary as well. Toren McGaster #5 at corner is turning into a real stud and the Smith brothers (Josh and Emmanuel) from Murfreesboro are starting to get on the field too.
The biggest strength of this team though, imo, is Derek Mason as the defensive coordinator. He was a disaster in 2014 (where he was JUST the head coach, and not the DC), but decided he was going to call the plays on D this year and he's the real deal. So much so, that most of our fanbase has reconsidered wanting to fire him at the end of the year. We may end up 1-11 this year and if so, Mason may be gone, but if he can get just a few wins, he'll end up keeping his job and we should be pretty good next year.
This is a big game for us and for Derek Mason. Win and the players begin believing in Mason as a head coach. Lose, and you really wonder if the players can believe in a guy who can't beat WKU or MTSU.
