X Marc's The Spot: SEC Preview: Vanderbilt Commodores

There were celebrations in Nashville last winter, when the Commodores recorded their first bowl victory in over 50 years. If head coach Bobby Johnson hopes to get his team to another bowl game this year, he will have to figure out a way to get some production out of an offense that managed just over 250 yards per game last year.

Sophomore quarterback Larry Smith will be the man in Nashville after winning his first career start in last year's Music City Bowl. However, if Smith struggles, we could see a quarterback controversy with Mackenzi Adams who started three games last year for the injured Chris Nickson. The good news for the starting quarterback is that all five offensive linemen return. Other than that, there is not much to be excited about on offense for a unit that struggled last year. Bobby Johnson hopes some new faces at receiver will increase production.

The Commodores made it to a bowl game last year by leaning on their defense who was quite stingy in 2008. Vandy returns nine starters on the unit that had 30 takeaways last year. While three of the returning starters each had over 100 tackles last season, replacing the teams star cornerback D.J. Moore will be the toughest task. However, another Vandy corner, Myron Lewis, managed to add five interceptions along with five sacks last year for the defense. Lewis will be the anchor in the secondary with Moore heading to the NFL. The defense will once again be the heart and soul of the Vanderbilt football team.

On special teams, there will be a battle for the new starting place kicker spot with Vandy's career leading scorer Bryant Hahnfeldt graduating. The punter position belongs to Brett Upson who was outstanding last year.

Vandy's schedule is typical of an SEC East team: imposing. Road games at LSU, South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee will test the young quarterbacks and new offensive players. Vandy also plays to out of conference road games at Army and Rice, in addition to hosting Georgia Tech. The Commodores must take advantage of home games and try to develop some potency on offense if they hope to return to a second consecutive bowl game.

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