Nov. 10, 2011
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Joe Fisher’s Mailbag Submit Your Question Wondering about a player, a game or another topic involving the Commodores? The Voice of the Commodores Joe Fisher will answer a variety of questions from fans during the season on VUcommodores.com. |
I am so excited about my Missouri Tigers joining the SEC. What do you think of the league expansion?
– Robert Wolf (Amarillo, Texas)
To be honest, I thought for weeks that Missouri was a likely addition to our conference, simply because of the new television markets it brings into the mix like Kansas City and St. Louis.
Also, Missouri is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities (as are Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Florida) and I believe that was important to the SEC and the university presidents.
Obviously much is left to be determined, like the divisional structure for next season in football, will it remain eight conference games or move to nine, and how are other sports affected, as in the SEC basketball tournament structure or SEC baseball.
Joe, is there any type of “review session” with the SEC/coaches and officiating crews. I was at the game against Florida and it was just as easy to see a lot of terrible missed calls as it was when I saw the replay on TV. Despite 12 penalties and missed calls, Vanderbilt played very well. But the missed call when Jordan Mathews gets shoved in the back while a catchable ball is in the air was beyond ridiculous. Seems like officiating crews should be sat down and made to explain calls-lack there of.
– Patrick (Pensacola, Fla.)
Each week, teams put together a video to send to the SEC office of calls from their previous game. These can either be calls that the coaches believe were incorrect, or were not made and should have been, or just calls where coaches want a further explanation. This is supposed to be educational for everyone involved; coaches, players and officials. Obviously, there was plenty of fan reaction to the lack of an interference call in the 4th quarter involving Jordan Matthews at Florida. I would imagine that play was on this week’s video.
Why is the past leading receiver for two years, tight end Brandon Barden, not getting balls thrown his way…I miss seeing his catches….
– Elizabeth Smith (North August, S.C.)
We saw Brandon much more involved in the offense this past week. Coach Franklin told me it’s not that the focus had gone away from the tight end, but he simply wasn’t open on plays that had been called to go to him earlier, and that he did a much better job at Florida of making himself an open target. That comes from either getting off the line of scrimmage better, running good crisp pass routes, or getting separation from a defender in space.
Joe, I noticed the Anchor decals on the helmets this week. I assume the decals are affixed for superior play. Is there a weekly report that tells the fan which players were honored with decals? Or is the awarding of decals strictly an inside the team event? Really like how some of the helmets’ backs are rapidly filling up!
– David (Murfreesboro, Tenn.)
There is not a weekly report. That is simply an in-team program of awards based on a criteria created by the coaches to reward performance.
How do you feel about the football teams season thus far? Are you excited for the chance to possibly win six games and go to a bowl game? Do you think that they will be able to start finishing in their games?
– Austin (Indiana)
It’s been quite a season so far to say the least. Though it’s not something the players or coaches talk about, it’s hard for all of us around the program or fans of the program not to be excited about the possibilities that lie ahead. I don’t think the problem has been so much not finishing games, as that we really haven’t put together four solid quarters of football on a consistent basis yet. Remember last week we dug a 17-0 halftime hole and stormed back in the second half to make that an interesting finish. Once we start putting a consistent performance together, I like our chances.
Why has Ryan Fowler not had any field goal opportunities this year? After two seasons, I would think he would not be as prone to the pressure. I thought he had been doing a good job.
– Wilson Green (Orlando, Fla.)
As you saw, Ryan got an opportunity early against Florida and had the short kick partially blocked. That could have been attributed to a missed blocking assignment up front, or too low a trajectory on the kick, or both. Basically, the kicking situation this week is the same as it has been in weeks past; Ryan and Carey Spear battle each week to win the job for that Saturday’s game.