No one's laughing about VU's team

Johnson brought the 'A' material for a reason. With 21 of 22 projected starters back, Vanderbilt can actually entertain bowl talk without being booed off the stage.

"We think about them, yeah. I watched a few on TV last year," Johnson said. "Your players, you ask them to work hard. You ask them to get in the off-season program and do all the things we ask them to do. Obviously they're preparing for something besides 2-10. We've got goals. We want to play in a bowl game, obviously."

Defensive end Jovan Haye spurned Miami (Fla.), Auburn and Michigan State just to be front and center for such a circumstance.

"We talk about [a bowl game] all the time," Haye said. "I don't think there's a day goes by that we don't talk about it as a team or in a group."

With so many experienced players in tow, the pace of fall practices, which begin Aug. 11, should be accelerated in that direction. For the first time in Johnson's three-year tenure, veterans who understand the system both offensively and defensively will outnumber the rookies.

"Our best teachers of our younger players are our older players," Johnson said. "When you have that, that allows you to move ahead a little faster in the installation of your offense and defense. It's a big, big help."

"Implementing a new offensive scheme or defensive scheme should not be hard," Haye added. "With 21 starters, they've been around football long enough. They're real smart guys."

If those same players follow Johnson's cue, they'll be wild and crazy guys, too.

"He's definitely got a good sense of humor," quarterback Jay Cutler said. "It's fun just to hang out with him off the field and away from the media and stuff."

Will the center hold?

The Commodores were particularly shallow along the offensive line last season, and that problem might persist at center. Steven Brent, the incumbent starter, has to prosper in summer class in order to stay eligible, while Chris Williams, who was projected to help at that position, is already academically ineligible. Tom Sorensen started the last eight games of 2003, but he left on a Mormon mission.

If Brent misses the academic cut, Johnson may have to shuffle Trey Holloway over from the defensive line or toss true freshman Hamilton Holliday into the fire.