Column: Grind Time for Vanderbilt Football

Six more conference games. At least three more against ranked opponents. A gauntlet to test it in every way possible. An exam that could allow it to come out on the other side with a legacy greater than anyone else has ever had in this program. 

It’s hardly a given that it gets anything but bowl eligibility, though. It will have to earn everything from here on out. 

Vanderbilt’s chin will have to be strong. It will have to be sharp. That depth that Clark Lea talked about all offseason? It’s got to be improved. Then it can have evidence to back up talk like this. 

"We've got every single goal that we want out in front of us,” Pavia said. “That's a national championship.” 

“We’re the best football team in the country,” Vanderbilt receiver Richie Hoskins said.

Vanderbilt’s declarations appear to be outlandish, but perhaps the best indicator of its true status at this stage is normalcy. On a Sunday afternoon in which this program was enjoying its bye week, it was still in the headlines. 

It defied a 51-game streak as it opened as favorites over No. 10 LSU. It moved up three spots in the AP Top 25 without playing. It had a Sunday like normal SEC powerhouses do. That can all go away in a second if it starts to slip, though. 

The national media rocketship that has taken this team to heights of publicity it hasn’t yet seen can go away at any time if this team doesn’t continue to earn it. Lea’s team doesn’t have the luxury of relevancy in any circumstance, its past as a program can assist it in a ride back to obscurity if it fails to live up to the billings that it feels as if it’s earned to this point. 

It’s been a thrilling ride for this Vanderbilt team that’s included statement wins, explosive plays, nearly flawless health across the board and stardom. Here’s when the grind starts, though. Here’s when the blowout wins stop and the nagging injuries start to add up. 

Time to fight for every blade of grass. Time to win with execution on the line of scrimmage rather than blowing everyone out of the water with explosive plays. Time to win without your best. 

As Vanderbilt moves down the stretch, it’s got to know that the difference between it reaching its College Football Playoff aspirations and changing the perception around this program forever and finishing with an underwhelming 8-4 or 7-5 finish.

Enough with the talk of the standard changing. Time for Vanderbilt to win when it hasn’t in the past.