Vanderbilt on quick return trip to SEC cellar

By RAY GLIER

For the AJC

“Revenge of the Nerds” had a short run on the marquee of the Southeastern Conference. The hook has come out and Vanderbilt has been dragged off stage, at least for the time being.

The school that shames the rest of the SEC in graduation rate as well as a low rate of appearances before the local magistrate is following up its 2008 7-6 performance -- and its once-a-generation bowl appearance -- by backpedaling into a 2-4 record.

The Commodores, who host similarly desperate Georgia on Saturday, have 19 starters returning this season and were supposed to follow up ’08 in a big way. Instead, the trumpets have been muted. Vandy lost at Army on Saturday and has dropped winnable games against Mississippi and Mississippi State.

“It’s real frustrating. We feel like we’re better than that. We’re not holding up our end of the bargain,” said Vandy coach Bobby Johnson, who is in his eighth season. “I think both teams are frustrated and feel they are better than their records indicate.”

Vanderbilt lost to Army, 16-13, when Warren Norman, a freshman from Chamblee High School, lost a fumble at the 1-yard line in overtime. The Black Knights then won it with a 42-yard field goal that bounced through off the goal post.

Norman had tied the game in the fourth quarter, 10-10, with a 76-yard kickoff return.

It has been that way for the Commodores all season. They play hard, as usual. They are well-coached, as usual.

Then they botch it.

Down 16-9 at LSU on Seppt. 12, Vandy’s Alex Washington, a senior from Stephenson in Stone Mountain, bobbled a pass that would have been a first down at the Tigers’ 15-yard line in the fourth quarter. The ball was snatched out of the air for an interception and the Commodores lost, 23-9.

Two weeks later, Vanderbilt intercepted Ole Miss quarterback Jevan Snead three times but could not turn any of those picks into points and lost, 23-7.

Last weekend, the Commodores were whistled for an uncharacteristic 12 penalties at Army, which called into questions their reputation as brainiacs.

“The penalty situation has got to cease,” Johnson said. “You look back at some of the big wins we had last year. Look at the Music City Bowl for a great example. No penalties. That’s how we’ve got to play and we’re far from that right now.”

Another issue is red zone inefficiency. Vanderbilt, which has not been very crisp offensively to begin with, is last in the SEC in red zone efficiency (66.7).

“A top priority for us is to find some offensive production, especially getting the ball in the end zone,” Johnson said. “Our red zone efficiency has been pretty poor and kept us from winning that game Saturday.”

Vanderbilt could use a go-to receiver, a star to pick up a sub-standard passing game. But such a player washed out because of grades, which illustrates the Commodores academic mission. Terence Jeffers of Lawrenceville, who caught 61 passes for Connecticut in 2007, transferred to Vanderbilt and was striving to be eligible for the 2009 season.

He did not survive academically.

Todd Yoder, a tight end for the Washington Redskins who played at Vandy (1996-1999), did not think long when asked if it would be OK to trade a winning season in the SEC for one star to slip in through the back door of the admissions office.

“There is a tradition there of academic excellence and we’re not willing to compromise that for the sake of football,” Yoder said. “If, for one year, they lowered the standards to get certain individuals in school and had a good record, then that player got in trouble or did not succeed academically, it would be pretty disappointing.”

Vanderbilt, which has not had a winning season in the Southeastern Conference since 1982, found out how much its fans covet the academic reputation during the season opener against Western Carolina.

Catherine Johnson, the wife of the head coach, was on the field to accept Johnson’s award for being named Coach of the Year in the Vanderbilt athletic department and was greeted with nice, golf tournament applause when the bowl win and seven victories were mentioned. But when it was announced Vanderbilt had won the 2008 American Football Coaches Award because 95 percent of its 2001 recruiting class earned diplomas, the crowd erupted in cheers.

The Commodores have six games left to get that chemistry of brains and brawn right again.