Johnson's rebuilding task much harder than expected

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - The question was simple enough. How does Bobby Johnson rate the talent of his new team Vanderbilt against that of his old school, Division I-AA Furman? <br> <br> Johnson couldn&#39;t have been more honest Monday with his answer. <br> <br> ``Very close. Very close, and I think in some positions they&#39;re more athletic. We&#39;re probably bigger, and they&#39;re more athletic,&#39;&#39; Johnson said at his weekly news conference. <br> <br> The good news is that Furman played for the I-AA national title last year. But considering Vanderbilt is Division I-A and a member of the Southeastern Conference, that&#39;s not good for Johnson. <br> <br> His job is to revive a program mired in 19 consecutive losing seasons while competing in the SEC with little talent left by Woody Widenhofer, who quit last season after five years. <br> <br> Vanderbilt (0-1) started the season last weekend with a 45-3 loss at Georgia Tech where the best Johnson could say was that his Commodores never quit. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t think there was any fingerpointing or blaming of anybody. They were looking at each other and asking why is this happening,&#39;&#39; Johnson said. <br> <br> Some of the problems Johnson can try to fix in practice this week. <br> <br> Vandy played the first quarter to a scoreless tie before Georgia Tech scored on six consecutive possessions. The Commodores gave up an average 6.1 yards per play in that 31-point burst, and the offense managed just two first downs with 49 total yards by halftime. <br> <br> Johnson said they will work on fundamentals like how to tackle. He wasn&#39;t happy with poor execution where Vandy didn&#39;t pitch the ball on options, threw it short or missed a block. <br> <br> ``Same old things when you see failure on a football team,&#39;&#39; Johnson said. ``All it takes is one person to mess up on a play. We&#39;ve got to get everybody doing what they&#39;re supposed to do and hard and as fast as they can and try to get better.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Improving the talent at Vanderbilt will take time, and that is why Johnson and his staff already have been working hard. He&#39;s convinced that Vanderbilt&#39;s history as the SEC&#39;s cellar dweller is the only negative against a school with some new facilities that offers a quality education. <br> <br> ``What we&#39;re trying to do is convince guys they can come here and help us early, help us get our talent level up to SEC-caliber level. So far we&#39;ve had some success,&#39;&#39; Johnson said. ``We&#39;re talking to a lot of guys who like what they see when they come to Vanderbilt.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> His immediate task isn&#39;t eased by the schedule. No. 4 Furman visits Vanderbilt on Saturday night in a game scheduled at least three years ago. Johnson knows the Paladins would love nothing more than to spoil his home opener in their season opener. <br> <br> ``Furman&#39;s biggest strength is they&#39;re going to expect to win the football game. They&#39;ve been winning for years and years. Since 1978, they&#39;ve averaged eight wins a year there,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> ``They expect to win no matter who they play.&#34;

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