Vanderbilt Commodores Football: 2015 Season Preview

Nov 1, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Johnny McCrary (2) hands the ball off to running back Ralph Webb (26) during the first half against the Old Dominion Monarchs at Vanderbilt Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Breakdown

Last season has to be one of the worst in Vanderbilt offensive history. The Commodores literally couldn’t score. It wasn’t until the third game of the season that the Commodores scored their first offensive touchdown, and with veteran quarterback, Patton Robinette, leaving the team to focus on medical school, the Commodores will look for young talent to lead the team in 2015.

Thankfully, shortly after the season, Derek Mason made some changes to his coaching staff, as Mason hired a new offensive coordinator, new strength coach, and other position coaches. Mason also appointed himself as defensive coordinator.

There was no hire more important than the hiring of Vanderbilt offensive coordinator, Andy Ludwig, who served as Wisconsin’s offensive coordinator last season.

If there was any coach in college football that deserved to lose his job last season it had to be former Vanderbilt offensive coordinator, Karl Dorrell. Last season, the Commodores averaged only 17.2 points per game, ranking 119th in the country in that category. Dorrell also ran off a few players, and had a very short leash on quarterbacks, as the Commodores started four different quarterbacks in 2014.

The Ludwig hire was the best we could have done, and I applaud Mason for hiring him. Ludwig will bring a high powered rushing attack to Vanderbilt, like he did last season with Melvin Gordon at Wisconsin, but unfortunately, we don’t have near the amount of talent that Ludwig had at Wisconsin.

Frankly, we’re just not big enough to run the ball down team’s throats, especially in the SEC, but hopefully we’ll progress from last season, as the Commodores hired former Nebraska strength coach, James Dobson, who is currently doing wonders with the school’s strength and conditioning program.

This season the Commodores will be returning nine of eleven offensive starters from last season, including eighty percent of the Commodore offensive line. This should excite me, but it really doesn’t. That’s like saying over half of the Bad News Bears returned to the team for their trip to Houston in the original movie’s sequel.

One bright spot of the Commodore offense last season was redshirt freshman running back, Ralph Webb, who ran for 907 yards on 212 carries. Webb literally carried the offense at times, and he finished with four touchdowns on the ground. Webb will again play a key role in the Commodore offense this fall.

The Commodore offense was awful in 2014, but with most of last season’s starters returning and the hire of offensive coordinator, Andy Ludwig, the Commodores are hoping to improve on an abysmal 2014 offensive season.

Next: Defensive Breakdown