Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson is an unabashed optimist, so it's no surprise that he found blue skies in a gray spring for a football program which took some hard injury hits.

Following the team's Black and Gold Scrimmage, which was held to 62 plays as numerous players either played sparingly or not at all, Johnson was in Chuck Tanner "smiley face" mode.

"We didn't get a chance to play some guys because of injuries and couldn't substitute as much as we'd like, but I thought the kids' overall attitude was really good," he said. "Despite the lack of numbers, our guys played hard."

Coach-speak aside, if the 2008 team matches last year's five wins, it will be a significant accomplishment. ...More