July 27, 2007
2007 Season Tickets Start at $99 | Nashville Night September 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Four Commodores – junior wide receiver Earl Bennett, senior offensive tackles Chris Williams and Brian Stamper, and senior linebacker Jonathan Goff – were named to preseason All-Southeastern Conference teams today by media representatives covering the league.
Bennett, a native of Birmingham, Ala., and Goff, from Lynn, Mass., were named first team All-SEC by the media. Williams and Stamper were added to the second team. Announcement of the all-conference squads came on the closing day of SEC Media Days, which draw a record audience of 830 newspaper, radio and television representatives.
Only two offensive players, Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden and Kentucky tight end Jacob Tamme, received more votes than Bennett. Goff was the fourth leading vote getter on defense, trailing LSU tackle Glenn Dorsey, Alabama cornerback Simeon Castille and South Carolina linebacker Jasper Brinkley.
Announcement of the sportswriters’ preseason squad comes one week after five Commodores – Bennett, Goff, Williams, Stamper and junior quarterback Chris Nickson – were named to various preseason squads by the 12 SEC coaches.
Commodore Head Coach Bobby Johnson said the four Vanderbilt receipts were deserving candidates for the writers’ team.
“There’s a tremendous amount of great players in this league, and that includes the four players recognized from our team,” Johnson said. “Earl and Jonathan are special players and very deserving of first team recognition. We think Chris is one of the top linemen in the SEC and Brian returns this year with plenty to prove.”
Picked to virtually every all-conference preseason team and to numerous All-America ballots, Bennett enters his junior season within reach of several league career receiving marks. He needs 48 receptions to surpass the all-time conference mark and less than 1,100 yards to become the league’s career leader in receiving yardage. He was has been named to watchlists for the Maxwell and Biletnikoff awards. In 2006, Bennett caught 82 passes for 1,146 yards and six touchdowns. The receptions total topped the SEC and ranked among the top 10 nationally, and allowed Bennett to become the first receiver in conference history to amass at least 75 receptions in each of his first two seasons.
A three-year starter and second-year captain, Goff received the second highest vote total among linebackers by the writers. A preseason candidate for the Bronko Nagurski, Butkus and Bednarik awards, Goff ranked among SEC leaders in several defensive categories last year. He enters the season ranked third among active SEC defenders with 141 career total tackles and has started 28 consecutive games
Williams, named to the SEC coaches’ first team preseason team last week, is an agile 6-6, 320-pounder that has started two years on the Commodore offensive line. A co-captain this season, Williams earned second team All-SEC accolades playing left tackle as a junior after starting at guard in 2005.
Stamper returns for his final year with plenty to prove. An All-SEC performer two years ago, Stamper missed much of last season with a back injury that required corrective surgery. Prior to the injury, he was regarded as one of the SEC’s most versatile offensive lineman.
The Commodores are expected to open preseason camp on August 6, pointing toward the 2007 season opener against Richmond on Sept. 1. The Richmond game, featuring a kickoff at 6:00 p.m., is the first of four straight to be played in Vanderbilt Stadium. After the opener against Richmond, the Commodores start their SEC schedule by hosting Alabama and Ole Miss on Sept. 8 and Sept. 15, respectively. After a week off, Vanderbilt hosts Eastern Michigan on Sep. 29 before making its first road trip of the year to Auburn on Oct. 6.
Vanderbilt will host eight games on campus this year for the first time in more than a century. Season ticket plans for the Commodores’ home schedule, the least expensive in the SEC, start at $99, and are available online at www.vucommodores.com, via the phone at (877) 44-VANDY and at the athletic box office on-campus in McGugin Center.
In the second half of the upcoming season, Vanderbilt also hosts Georgia on Oct. 13, Miami (Ohio) on Oct. 27, Kentucky on Nov. 10, and Wake Forest in the finale on Nov. 24.
The team’s official fan day activity, Dore Jam, is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 12, starting at 4 p.m., at the squad’s practice facilities.
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