Vanderbilt football has an opportunity to do what they haven't done since 1984 - be ranked in the top 25. This weekend the Commodores (3-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) will travel down to Oxford to face Mississippi (2-1, 0-0), where they hope to vault their record to 4-0, as they did 24 years ago to become No. 19 in the nation. After last week's win against Rice, the Commodores garnered enough votes to be No. 26 in the nation, meaning a solid win at Ole Miss would almost certainly lead to a national ranking.
Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson addressed his team's ranking, dismissing any ideas of overconfidence.
"I don't think our guys have a big head. I think our record speaks for itself and we don't need anybody else to tell us how good we are," said Johnson. "We know that we have a lot of improvement to make from week-to-week and hopefully we can do that. We're focused on getting better each week and hopefully everything will take care of itself."
With all the rankings talk, Vanderbilt cannot forget about their opponent, an energized Ole Miss team that comes in with a 2-1 record. The Rebels, led by former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt, have defeated Memphis and Samford at home and fell to Wake Forest on the road. Although the two wins shouldn't be regarded as resume builders for Ole Miss, their performance against a ranked Wake Forest team was impressive. The Demon Deacons will likely finish in the top three in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season, and the Rebels nearly came away victorious in Winston-Salem if not for a defensive breakdown that led to a game winning, last-second field goal.
This Rebels team only won three games last season, but with the former coach of standouts like Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at the helm this year, Ole Miss looks to do more damage in the SEC.
"I think Coach Nutt brings an attitude of toughness and efficiency in offense to Mississippi. I think he has made them so much better," Johnson said. "You can see so far this year that they have taken care of the ball and play hard in all phases of the game. They try to hit you with big plays and his trademark is in place. It will be a test this week because they will line up with two running backs in the backfield and we will have to prove that we can stop it."
That two running back lineup was what made Nutt's Arkansas team successful last season, but Johnson said that simply watching tape of last year's Razorbacks is not the correct response in scouting the Rebels.
"Mississippi has two solid running backs but last year's Arkansas team had two exceptional running backs in Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. The quarterback combination is entirely different. We're preparing for Mississippi based on what we have seen from their tape this year," Johnson said.
With Nutt on the opposing sideline, the Commodores know what to expect, but must realize that the personnel is completely different. With that in mind Vanderbilt can focus on the task at hand: win a hard-fought game on the road and make history - and make Vanderbilt football a legitimate contender in the SEC.
