Vanderbilt Coach Bobby Johnson practiced his players in full pads Tuesday for the first time since preseason camp.
The move was preparation for the Army game ? not as penalty for the Ole Miss game.
Johnson said Army, which runs an option offense, has a particular style of blocking that the Commodores needed to see.
"Full pads is because they block low and come out and dive at your legs," Johnson said. "We just want to try to protect everybody and give them a good picture of what it's going to be like. And that's the best way to do it."
Through five games, Army has run on 80 percent of its offensive plays.
Stacy better: Tailback Zac Stacy not only had the protective boot off his sprained right ankle, but also the freshman ran at near full speed in practice.
Stacy's improvement caused Johnson to change his status for the Army game after saying Monday he'd be unlikely to play.
"I think he'll be good to go," Johnson said. "But I don't know how long he'll last."
Hensley down:Starting offensive guard Eric Hensley went down during practice with an apparent right knee injury. He did not return after walking off under his own power. An update on his condition was not given.
Option look: Scout team quarterbacks Charlie Goro and Matt Casas are in charge of giving the first-team defense an accurate representation of what Army runs.
"It's kind of mix between the veer option and midline option, mostly the veer option," Goro said. "I ran it a little bit in high school, so it hasn't been too hard to adapt to it. (The defense) just needs to stay disciplined, control the gaps and they'll be fine."
West Point legend: Army will retire the number of the late Felix "Doc" Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winner, during a halftime ceremony at the Vandy game. Blanchard died in April at age 84.
Sacked: Opponents have been getting to quarterback Larry Smith with regularity the last couple of weeks. Smith has been sacked seven times for 53 yards in its last two game, including four times by Ole Miss.
The 13 sacks surrendered by Vanderbilt this season are tied for the most by a SEC team. Breakdowns in blocking and Smith's holding on to the ball too long have been cause for some of the problem, but Johnson said a sack is often better than the alternative.
"The last thing we want him to do is throw the ball inappropriately and have an interception," Johnson said. "We had a punter (Brett Upson) average 46 yards a kick last week, so we feel like we'd rather have that than have a turnover and give a short field to the opposition. But we want (Smith) to be decisive. Read it. See it. If it's there, throw it. If it's not, he'll have to run it."
The move was preparation for the Army game ? not as penalty for the Ole Miss game.
Johnson said Army, which runs an option offense, has a particular style of blocking that the Commodores needed to see.
"Full pads is because they block low and come out and dive at your legs," Johnson said. "We just want to try to protect everybody and give them a good picture of what it's going to be like. And that's the best way to do it."
Through five games, Army has run on 80 percent of its offensive plays.
Stacy better: Tailback Zac Stacy not only had the protective boot off his sprained right ankle, but also the freshman ran at near full speed in practice.
Stacy's improvement caused Johnson to change his status for the Army game after saying Monday he'd be unlikely to play.
"I think he'll be good to go," Johnson said. "But I don't know how long he'll last."
Hensley down:Starting offensive guard Eric Hensley went down during practice with an apparent right knee injury. He did not return after walking off under his own power. An update on his condition was not given.
Option look: Scout team quarterbacks Charlie Goro and Matt Casas are in charge of giving the first-team defense an accurate representation of what Army runs.
"It's kind of mix between the veer option and midline option, mostly the veer option," Goro said. "I ran it a little bit in high school, so it hasn't been too hard to adapt to it. (The defense) just needs to stay disciplined, control the gaps and they'll be fine."
West Point legend: Army will retire the number of the late Felix "Doc" Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winner, during a halftime ceremony at the Vandy game. Blanchard died in April at age 84.
Sacked: Opponents have been getting to quarterback Larry Smith with regularity the last couple of weeks. Smith has been sacked seven times for 53 yards in its last two game, including four times by Ole Miss.
The 13 sacks surrendered by Vanderbilt this season are tied for the most by a SEC team. Breakdowns in blocking and Smith's holding on to the ball too long have been cause for some of the problem, but Johnson said a sack is often better than the alternative.
"The last thing we want him to do is throw the ball inappropriately and have an interception," Johnson said. "We had a punter (Brett Upson) average 46 yards a kick last week, so we feel like we'd rather have that than have a turnover and give a short field to the opposition. But we want (Smith) to be decisive. Read it. See it. If it's there, throw it. If it's not, he'll have to run it."
