Vanderbilt Commodores
2001 record: 2-9 (0-8 and last in the SEC East)
Coach: Bobby Johnson (first year)
Starters returning: 7 offense, 7 defense

Outlook: Bobby Johnson's silver hair and dark eyebrows make him a semi-dead ringer for Steve Martin. But he's not much into the wild-and-crazy guy act, at least not from his players.

Since arriving from Division I-AA Furman, Johnson has tightened Woody Widenhofer's loose ship. He's instituted a dress code and called for neatly trimmed hair. He's banned "excessive" jewelry and cussing. He's put an end to on-field fights that players say Widenhofer indulged. And earlier this month he kicked one player off the team and suspended another for the entire season for violating unspecified team rules.

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We'll sooon see whether this is a rearrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic or something that actually helps Vandy win games. But you've got to start somewhere, and the on-field reality might be too painful to deal with right away.

Vandy returns no one who rushed for 100 yards or threw for 50 last season. Three of its top five tacklers are gone as well. The punter and place-kicker are out, too. Then again, out with the old and in with the new might help. It's not like Vandy is replacing a battalion of all-league players.

The defense should be better than the group that fell apart last year, surrendering 36.5 points per game -- 50.8 over the last four games. If it isn't, Vandy might not win a game.

The best offensive player is receiver Dan Stricker, who caught 65 passes for 1,079 yards and eight touchdowns, ran for 80 yards and can serve as the emergency punter if needed. He needs 71 receptions to surpass Craig Yeast as the SEC's career leader and 742 yards to surpass Josh Reed in career reception yardage. But Stricker's receiving numbers might decrease with school career passing leader Greg Zolman gone and Johnson implementing a more option-based attack with mobile junior QB Benji Walker or backup Jay Cutler. At least the offensive line has promise, led by sophomore tackle Justin Geisinger. The freshman all-league player has increased his bench press to a school-record 525 pounds.

Keep an eye on: The Brothers Johnson. OK, they're not really brothers, or even distant cousins. But true freshmen Greg and Patrick Johnson will be joined at the leg this season as the Commodores' kickers. Greg Johnson averaged 42.2 yards per kick in high school and figures to be the punter. He's also battling Patrick, a high-school standout from Alabama, for the placement duties. (At Vanderbilt, punting figures to be the more demanding task.)

Key game: Bobby Johnson plays his old school, Furman, Sept. 7. A victory over last year's I-AA national finalists would be an early confidence boost for the Commodores, who only figure to have a handful of realistic opportunities to win.

It's a good year if. . .: Vandy can surpass last year's two-victory total. Aside from Furman, there are home games against Middle Tennessee (which beat the 'Dores in the opener last year, sealing Widenhofer's doom) and Connecticut. There's always hope against Kentucky, and Vandy has a habit of scaring at least one other SEC team every year (it lost by three to both Alabama and Auburn last season, Ole Miss by five in 2000 and Florida by a single touchdown in '99). If Vanderbilt can move the ball at all, the giddy heights of 3-9 are possible.

Pat Forde covers college football for the Louisville Courier-Journal.