The House of Blue

Weither anyone likes Frankin or not this game shows what?

That Vandy will not be a "W" without a fight as they have been in the past. They have some good players who will only get better. To try to compare talent between USC and Vandy is a stretch and just shows that even in a loss they didn't give up and roll over like many expected.

Hopefully UK plays as hard as them against Louisville.

Exactly. I hear so many wanting to see "results" with Joker and company. And we hear about all this supposed success Franklin is having at Vandy.

Yes Vandy whipped us last year......but James Franklin's "results" tonight, is a plain ole LOSS.

6-8 impressive.

Vandy blew a lot of opportunities to win tonight. They couldn't get anything off of turnovers despite some really good field position. Had a ton of dropped passes. And had trouble with Lattimore who isn't even close to 100%.

Good teams fight and get the win despite of the road bumps. Vandy isn't quite there yet. They have some nice pieces but they lack the depth and consistency. And I don't really see Franklin hanging around long enough for them to get there if he has even minimal success at Vandy. Somebody will end up snatching him up.

I agree that USC jr looked awful, but if you compare Vandy under Franklin, to vandy 3 years ago, they have made a lot of progress. Their lines looked descent, their team looked balanced, and frankly, they hit hard. You guys can say that Shaw was hurt all you like, but he was hurt cause Vandy put some damn good hits on him. They were obviously the lesser team, no question, but those who continue to deny their progreess are just that, in denial.

Franklin is 6-8 at Vandy. How is that "progress"? (3-8 in last 11 games). There is a perception (false) that Vandy is now a juggernaut.....they arent. There is also a perception that Vandy is on the way up.....i think the same could be said for UK based on the young talent we will be playing this year (who will be around for yrs to come).

Btw - Joker was 7-7 in his first 14 games.

Btw II - Vandy was better when Jay Cutler was QB than last yr and this yr.

Impressed cause they lost with style? I'm not seeing anything to be impressed by. Are we giving away pts for keeping it close?

Just as long as that attitude also is used when talking UK games. That means no excuses for any loses, that means playing hard and losing means nothing, that means no style points will be given for a loss and that wins are what its all about. Keeping it close is for losers.

You can't have it both ways fellas.

Exactly. Can't have it both ways. Those who think Franklin is a great coach and Joker is terrible even though they share the same record through 14 games can't have it both ways.

Cat, this post seems like a reach to me.

You acknowledge SCar played terribly. I'll add my opinion that SCar had to trot out a QB with a dangling arm because the backup was hot garbage, had offensive line woes, looked out of shape on defense, and was either leery of feeding Lattimore too much or suffered from bone-headed playcalling.

Despite all of this, SCar wins the game at Vandy's place. Sure, Vandy played hard. But they lost the game. I was proud we played GA close in Athens last year when the team could have given up, but we lost the game. I thought we showed signs of progress in that game, but we lost the game.

I don't deny that Vandy 2011/2012 is improved from Vandy 2009/2010. But it was just 2008 that Vanderbilt went 4-4 in the SEC, beating SCar, Auburn, UK, and Ole Miss. That year, Vandy lost by 3 to Miss St, by 10 to GA, and by 10 to Tenn. So let's not act like what Franklin is doing is unprecedented on the field.

On the recruiting trail, yes. At least for 2012. 2012 is the first (and only recent) year that Vandy had a better recruiting class than UK. Vandy's class looks very good for 2013, provided they get signatures on signing day. So give Franklin all the credit in the world for bringing some excitement and new recruiting shine to Vandy. But his current record just has a bunch of close losses and wins over teams with losing records.

Franklin is getting Vandy back to 2008 Vandy levels, but without (so far) the wins and with flashier recruiting in the 2012 and 2013 classes. In 2008, Vandy beat SCar, Auburn, UK, and Ole Miss to go 4-4 in the SEC. Three of the four losses were by 10, 10, and 3 points. The only bad loss was to Florida. So what Franklin is doing is not unprecedented, or even as impressive as Paul Johnson's best season.

He did have a 34-0 (Bama) emasculation on his resume in 2011, as well as the drubbing by SCar where Vandy managed 77 yards of offense, 3 turnovers, and 79 penalty yards. The score was more respectable (at 21-3) largely because Garcia threw 3 interceptions in the first quarter.

However, Vandy drug us last year and it was extremely embarrassing. No disputing that at all. I liked last night's game because it reinforces my belief that if UK can get itself together this season, a bowl game is looking pretty achievable. If this team comes out focused and executes, it can beat 7-8 teams on the schedule.

However, we have to wait until Sunday before we can learn whether this will be a focused and determined team, or a 2011 early-season flop. And if UK doesn't at least look sharp and determined in the season opener on Sunday, I'll be the first one to say we're in for a worse season than last year, with all of the problems (and solutions) that entails.

I like Franklin and think he is a good coach but he really hasn't done anything yet to say he's the next big thing. His biggest wins so far are UK and Wake Forrest. You can talk about playing close all you want but whether you lose by 1 or 50 it still goes in the L column. Would I rather lose close hell yeah but it's still a loss.

Also I agree about the embaraasing losses last season. In saying that people want to harp on them and never bring up the wins over USCjr and UT. You have to give credit for those if your going to criticize the losses.

Franklin 6-8
Joker 7-7

thru 14 games