ESPN SEC Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vanderbilt lost all but two pieces of its defensive front seven from last season.

Gone are big-play linebackers Jonathan Goff and Marcus Buggs, as well as tackle Theo Horrocks and end Curtis Gatewood. They formed the nucleus of a unit that finished the season ranked 16th nationally in total defense.

"We lost some good players, but there's a lot of new faces on this team that people don't know about," said junior defensive end Broderick Stewart, one of those new faces. "We're going to surprise a lot of people this year."

We won't have to wait long to get a look at what Stewart says is the "New Generation" of Vanderbilt's defense. The Commodores open the season next Thursday night at Miami (Ohio).

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Stewart bristles at the notion that Vanderbilt is going to fall back to a two- or three-win team this season.

"I saw where somebody had us 2-10," said Stewart, who had six sacks last season despite not starting. "They've got us as underdogs to Miami of Ohio. I don't get it. We play in the SEC, but people look at us like we're some doormat."

For those who still aren't believers, Stewart has a couple of predictions.

"We're going to a bowl game," he said. "If I'm on the field and stay healthy, we're going to be there."

The Commodores last played in a bowl game in 1982.

Stewart also said Vanderbilt will have the fastest defense in the SEC.

"Hands down, I think we're the fastest," he said. "You'll see. We're going to play really fast. We've got guys all over the place who can move, some new faces that people haven't really seen, and it doesn't get any better than having a secondary like ours playing behind you."

The other thing that's different, according to Stewart, is that this team is 100 percent on the same page.

"Last year and definitely the year before, we had some attitudes that hurt us," he said. "People got down too easy. That's not going to happen this year."