Vanderbilt fans are all asking the same question as the second year of the Derek Mason tenure approaches its end.

Where’s the offense?

When Derek Mason named former UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell his offensive coordinator in January 2014, it was considered to be a home run hire for the Commodores faithful.

But that honeymoon ended rather quickly.

With Dorrell calling plays in 2014, the Commodores turned the ball over 21 times and scored a fraction of the points they had scored under former offensive coordinator John Donovan during the James Franklin era. Vandy finished 3-9

Less than a year after hiring Dorrell, Mason fired his long-time friend after what was considered by many to be an unmitigated offensive disaster, which included the use of four different starting quarterbacks, none of whom had much success.

Enter Andy Ludwig.

The accomplished offensive coordinator, who has had stints calling plays at Wisconsin, Oregon, California, Utah and Fresno State, was hired by Mason to fix the problems that Dorrell seemingly had created.

Ludwig has drawn praise for his measured approach and his willingness to avoid the revolving door at quarterback that plagued his predecessor.

But is the 2015 offensive output under Ludwig really any better than what earned Dorrell an early exit in 2014?

Let’s examine some key areas:

Points Scored

YEAR COORDINATOR POINTS PER

GAME (TOTAL)

 POINTS PER

GAME (SEC)
2014 Karl Dorrell 17.2 12.8
2015 Andy Ludwig 14.8 11.4
In perhaps the most important stat of all, Ludwig has actually produced slightly fewer points per game than Dorrell. While the team does have one more conference win (with three more chances to add to the total), that 10-3 win against Missouri was in spite of Ludwig’s offense output rather than because of it.

 Turnovers

YEAR COORDINATOR TURNOVERS PER

GAME (TOTAL)

 TURNOVERS PER

GAME (SEC)
2014 Karl Dorrell 2.4 2.3
2015 Andy Ludwig 2.3 1.8
One of the things Ludwig emphasized when he arrived on campus was a need to cut the turnover rate in half from the 2014 season. While his offense hasn’t exactly lived up to that standard, there have been some small gains in that area. The program ranked worst in the league in turnover margin last season and remains last in the league this year thanks to a propensity for giving the other team the football.

 Time of Possession and 3rd down conversion rate

YEAR COORDINATOR T.O.P.

PER GAME

 3rd DOWN

PERCENTAGE
2014 Karl Dorrell 29:30 29.7
2015 Andy Ludwig 32:43 39.2

If you’re not going to score a lot of points and you have a problem with turning the ball over, it helps if you can at least hold on to the football to keep the other team from having the opportunity to score against your defense. Ludwig has demonstrated a better ability to do that in both time of possession and converting third downs. For a team that wants to play ball-control offense, this has to be considered an improvement.

 Total Yardage

YEAR COORDINATOR YARDS PER PLAY YARDS PER GAME
2014 Karl Dorrell 4.68  288.8
2015 Andy Ludwig 4.54  339.8

The Vanderbilt offense has posted an increase of more than 50 yards per game under the direction of Ludwig, which has to be considered a significant improvement. However, it is also worth noting that on a per-play basis, the Commodores were actually slightly more productive under Dorrell. Still, Ludwig has had the ball more, and he’s made use of it by gaining more yards.

 Running game

YEAR COORDINATOR YARDS PER ATTEMPT YARDS PER GAME
2014 Karl Dorrell 3.42  109.7
2015 Andy Ludwig 3.74  154.9

This is an area that has shown noticeable improvement under Ludwig. And that’s perhaps no surprise coming from the offensive coordinator who called plays during Melvin Gordon’s record-setting tenure at Wisconsin. Vanderbilt was the worst rushing team in the SEC under Dorrell, and it really wasn’t close.

 Passing game

YEAR COORDINATOR YARDS PER GAME PASSING EFFICIENCY
2014 Karl Dorrell 179.1  102.4
2015 Andy Ludwig 184.9  96.9

The passing game has seen no tangible improvement under Ludwig. It was the worst in the league under Dorrell, and it’s pretty much the worst in the league this season as well. With the exception of some recent snaps for true freshman Kyle Shurmur, most of the snaps at quarterback have belonged to Johnny McCrary under Ludwig. There is a reasonable chance that, if given the opportunity to work with QB Patton Robinette, who quit football in the spring after winning the start job, Ludwig could have better numbers in this area.

 The Verdict

Both coaches have been in a less than enviable position.

Not only are they trying to live up to the standards set by an era of Commodores football that included unprecedented offensive success thanks NFL products RB Zac Stacy and WR Jordan Matthews, but they’ve also been without the services of a capable quarterback in the process. Transfer quarterbacks like Jordan Rodgers and Austyn Carta-Samuels were able to provide stability to a position during the Franklin years that has been shaky since the days of Jay Cutler.

Dorrell and Ludwig also face the obstacle of trying to implement a run-first, pro-style offense that does not match up particularly well with the personnel on the team or competition on the field.

The Commodores are often times trying to force a physical offense on opponents that are simply bigger and stronger rather than trying to scheme around them. It’s a problem that has been evident in both seasons, so one could argue the blame for that goes on the head coach before either offensive coordinator.

Ultimately, there has been some progress in the Commodores offense under Ludwig, but not enough to be considered a major improvement.

If there had been, we’d probably be talking about which bowl game the Commodores would be playing in this season, because the defense has been terrific under the direction of Derek Mason.