by Barca Blog - So what is Bradley Vierling's assessment of the freshmen tailback trio of Warren Norman, Zac Stacy and Wesley Tate after their first week of practice at Vanderbilt.
"They're awesome," Vierling commented earlier this week. "Zac Stacy is really showing out. He can pick up blitzes, which to me that's more impressive than him running the ball for 15 yards. They're all doing great, but him imparticular, he's really, really doing well."
Nice praise indeed from the Commodores' two-time captain and senior center.
The freshmen backs have been one of several glaring positives in camp, displaying the ability to explode on any given carry during two scrimmages. All three should contend for playing time this season.
Vierling went on to say that Vanderbilt's o-line is focused on reducing the amount of sacks allowed this year (ranked ninth in the SEC with 26 in 2008), but also noted another tidbit of motivation for the front five.
"Personally, I think we want a 1,000-yard rusher, just one of them," Vierling added. "I know we're going to have a lot of different guys running the ball but I want one legitimate 1,000-yard rusher. That's what we want up front to show we're a unit that can move the ball."
The last time a 'Dore accomplished that feat was in 1995 when Jermaine Johnson rushed for 1,072 yards, which stands as the second-highest single-season total behind Corey Harris' 1,103 yards in 1991. The only other Commodore to break into four digits was Frank Mordica in 1978 with 1,065.
If you missed intern Travis' entire interview with Vierling on Tuesday, listen to it
here.
