Jerron Seymour isn't expected to be a major contributor for the Commodores in 2012. That's probably just fine with Seymour - he wasn't supposed to be one in 2011 either. He finished his freshman campaign with five touchdowns that season.

Seymour has gotten caught in the middle of Vanderbilt's running platoon thanks to the emergence of Zac Stacy, the return of Warren Norman, and the arrival of Brian Kimbrow. The quark-back is an unheralded but valuable runner who played a big role for last year's Liberty Bowl team. Despite his status as a true freshman, Seymour acclimated quickly to NCAA play and found success early in the season.

Seymour is a diminutive and powerful back who earned immediate playing time as a freshman in 2011. The Florida native announced his arrival at Dudley Field with a 40-yard first-quarter touchdown run against Connecticut. His brief breakout stoked a fanbase that had waited decades for an impact player to grace their backfield. While Seymour faded down the stretch and Zac Stacy eventually became that player, the freshman's contributions on the field were still significant.

More than half of Seymour's yardage - 145 yards - came over the first three games of the season. After that, his production and carries dipped. There are several potential reasons as to why, the most apparent being Stacy's development into an All-SEC running back. It's also possible that the long season, a switch at the quarterback position, and the preparation of opposing teams played a big role in limiting the freshman's momentum as 2011 wore on.

Seymour finished the season with 283 rushing yards - good for third on the team behind Stacy and Jordan Rodgers - and five touchdowns. His burst at the line of scrimmage made him a threat inside the red zone, though defenses adjusted to his running style as the season wore on. He finished with an average of only 3.2 yards per carry as the team's clear #2 tailback.

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The Tennessean is now making it official: Lafonte Thorogood, possibly the most heralded name in the whirlwind 2011 James Franklin recruiting derby, is leaving the Commodores. Thorogood, who was described at the time by one knucklehead blogger as "the four-star recruit with the five-star name," started off as the future of the QB position for the 'Dores - but when Jordan Rodgers broke out big, Austyn Carta-Samuels transferred in from Wyoming, Josh Grady proved to be a deadly threat under center despite being listed at WR and Patton Robinette made the move from UNC at the last moment, the Virginia Beach product found himself at 5th on the depth chart. So he moved to RB, where he found himself stuck behind breakout star Zac Stacy, returning one-time SEC Freshman of the Year Warren Norman, changeup-back-extraordinare Jerrod Seymour, and the bright star of the 2012 class, Brian "Got Running Away From A Porsche Speed" Kimbrow - a lineup so deep that Wesley Tate moved to wideout at one point.

At this point, having redshirted, Thorogood has four years to play three pretty much anywhere in the country he likes; there's no indication that there are any strings tied to where he might transfer. There's nothing to indicate that he has been anything other than a fine player and student; it's merely a case of not enough chairs left when the music stops. But looking at the verbal of Johnathon McCrary on top of the Rodgers-ACS-Grady-Robinette lineup, I suspect LT still has ambitions of playing quarterback. And given that he was a four-star dual-threat-QB prospect, one can hardly blame him for seeking someplace where he can go under center.

Two thoughts here:

1) How much have things changed when we have so much depth at critical offensive positions that a four-star prospect is leaving Vanderbilt for playing time elsewhere?

2) No Vandy player who never played a down did more for this program than Lafonte Thorogood did, just by signing and coming here. The fact that a prospect that well-regarded would turn down an perennial BCS bowl contender in Virginia Tech to sign with the new regime at Vanderbilt was the shot heard 'round college football, and did more than all the inspiring press conferences to give James Franklin's new order a dose of instant credibility.

I'm glad he came. I hope wherever he winds up, he gets his shot and sets the world on fire (though I'd rather not see it across from our defense). No matter what, though, when they write the history of the Franklin era at Vanderbilt, you'll see the name Lafonte Thorogood. It may not seem like he did very much, but he did the most important thing: he believed in the future of Vanderbilt football. And for that, we owe him our thanks.

Another week in SEC play brings a new team to the top of our power rankings. South Carolina ascended to the number one spot in this week's rankings after some disappointing out-of-conference performances sunk their competitors. While the Gamecocks went just 1-1 in a weather shortened series against Georgia, Florida and Kentucky squandered solid SEC performances with big losses to Samford and Murray State, respectively.

Those midweek losses had previously held Carolina back, but they've proven in recent weeks that they can win games no matter the level of pressure. South Carolina has gone 11-2 over the past month to get within half a game of conference-leading Kentucky in the standings. Meanwhile, LSU and Florida both still have chances to earn a share of the regular season title with big weekends to close out their regular seasons.

However, this final weekend also has big repercussions for teams outside of the top four. Vanderbilt and Ole Miss will battle in Nashville in a series that has significant implications for both teams. Vandy needs a series win to help lock down a NCAA at-large bid after a dismal 7-15 start to their season. Mississippi needs a big showing against the resurgent Commodores to help make their case for hosting a NCAA Tournament Regional.

Auburn will also be playing for an at-large bid, but they'll have a much tougher task in front of them than the 'Dores. The Tigers will host #3 Florida before heading to the SEC Tournament. If this week's current standings hold true, then they'd have to face the Gators once more to open up their bracket in Hoover. Auburn is already firmly on the at-large bubble, and a poor showing to finish their SEC season could end up stopping their season dead in its tracks.

Alabama and Tennessee will both play their final games of the season this week, as both have been eliminated from the postseason. They'll each get a chance to play spoiler with showdowns against Georgia and Arkansas looming. Both the Bulldogs and the Razorbacks have run through up and down seasons in 2012, and they'll need to polish off their lower-ranked opponents in order to put themselves in a favorable seed next week in Hoover.

So how does the SEC look after two months of conference play? The rankings are after the jump...

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It may not be something we get to say often, but Vanderbilt fans are spoiled. Tim Corbin made us that way.

Corbin's leadership has created a franchise at Hawkins Field, a known commodity that operates and excels at the highest level of college athletics. He brought life to a moribund branch of Vanderbilt athletics, turning an afterthought into a staple of ESPN's NCAA baseball broadcasts. His methods of bringing northern recruits to the south has paid dividends and turned West End into a haven for baseball junkies and casual fans alike.

Before Corbin's arrival, Vanderbilt had been to three NCAA Tournaments in school history. In nine years as head coach, Corbin has taken this team to seven. His tenure has included two SEC Championships as well as a final four appearance in the College World Series. In no short order, Vanderbilt has developed into a national power in less than a decade.

The work that the Vanderbilt baseball staff and players have done to raise the profile of their university is nothing less than impressive. Now, the team needs its fans more than ever. Vandy boosters have had the opportunity to watch their club mature right before their eyes. After a slow start that seemed to doom the team's streak of NCAA appearances, the 'Dores have regained their composure to make a run at Omaha once again. Big wins this weekend could reasonable lock down a seventh straight trip to the NCAA Regionals.

The team took a tough road to get here. This 2012 Diamond 'Dore team faced the task of replacing 12 players that were drafted by MLB teams, including their entire weekend rotation and the heart of their batting lineup. Still, an influx of talented young players thanks to Corbin's deep recruiting veins was expected to keep this team afloat.

Unfortunately, the team learned early on that a rebuilding club and a killer schedule don't mix. Vandy started off the season 1-7 and 7-15 against an out-of-conference murderer's row that included top 25 teams Stanford, Oregon, and San Diego. Things only got more difficult when the 'Dores opened up conference play in a league that holds four of the country's top ten teams in any given week.

But as the schedule got tougher, so did the Commodores. Vanderbilt slowly turned things around as the offense woke up and the defense bowed up in the field. Things started gradually with a series win over Georgia. Then the team gave South Carolina and Mississippi State all they could handle in close losses. Finally, things all came together with victories over top-10 teams Kentucky and LSU, kicking off a three-week series winning streak and putting the team over .500 for the first time all season.

However, there's still work to be done.

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It took three months, but Vanderbilt is finally starting to look like the top 10 program that many pundits thought they could be during the preseason.

Vanderbilt needed some big wins this week to put themselves in contention for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. However, matchups with #22 Louisville and #4 LSU made the Diamond 'Dores a hearty underdog on the field. The Vanderbilt team that was pressed into action against Stanford back in February would have crumbled against those odds. The newly matured Commodores shone this time around.

Vandy posted their most significant victories of the season when they needed them the most, being Louisville at home and taking a key series at LSU to improve to 26-25 on the season. They succeeded where Florida, Ole Miss, Arkansas, and Mississippi State had failed to topple the West-leading Tigers with a dramatic 10th-inning win on Sunday. The Commodores' pitching, a major problem for this team earlier in the year, came up huge to lock Vandy in to a spot in the SEC Tournament. The team allowed just 10 total runs in their four games this week.

The wins were a major boost for a team that has slowly rounded into form this season. Vanderbilt looked to have been hitting their stride weeks earlier, but a series loss to Alabama was a significant setback in the team's quest for a winning record and eligibility for the NCAA Tournament. The team was forced to come up big against top-10 squads like Kentucky and LSU, and they were able to rumble through each series with meaningful victories. With the wins, Vanderbilt has placed themselves on the happy side of the tournament bubble - for now.

Game 0: Vanderbilt 3, Louisville 2 - The Commodores came from behind to dispatch cross-league rival Louisville on Tuesday and reach .500 for the first time all season. Vandy trailed 2-1 late in the game, but a two-out single by Mike Yastrzemski scored Vince Conde in the seventh, and Conrad Gregor scored on a wild pitch one inning later to give the 'Dores all the runs they'd need. Kevin Ziomek, Drew VerHagen, and Brian Miller combined to limit the Cardinals to just four hits on the night. The two teams made their rivalry official this year with the "Battle for the Barrel," and Vandy earned the right to keep the whiskey barrel trophy in Nashville until the two teams meet again next season.

Game 1: LSU 2, Vanderbilt 1 - T.J. Pecoraro stood out in a complete game performance, but it wasn't enough as the 'Dores fell in a pitchers' duel to kick off the weekend series. Kevin Gausman fanned 11 Vandy batters in a performance befitting an ace to earn the win. Mike Yastrzemski had the team's lone RBI, once again singling home Conde. Pecoraro allowed just six baserunners over eight innings, constituting his best outing of the season so far.

More game recaps and AoG's prestigious awards are after the jump...

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