Vanderbilt’s adventures on offense in SEC play so far this season have some Commodores fans reflecting on two of the most nebulous, dangerous words in football: quarterback controversy.

Behind redshirt sophomore starter Larry Smith, the only Commodore quarterback in over a half-century with a bowl victory, stands redshirt senior Mackenzi Adams, hero of landmark victories against No. 6 South Carolina in 2007 and No. 13 Auburn last year.

After an unsettling 0-for-9 first half against Ole Miss that left some fans calling for Adams, Smith settled down to complete 10 of 18 passes in the second half, including a seven-yard touchdown pass to Udom Umoh.

He finished with 69 yards passing and also threw an interception in the end zone.

The Commodores rank 113th in the country in passing yards per game this season, and naturally the quarterback position comes under the strongest examination from fans and the media during droughts in the passing game. To his credit, Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson refuses to be swept up in the speculation as his team approaches the halfway point of its season.

“A lot of the things that are happening aren’t Larry’s fault, and it’s hard for people to see that … Some of the things that happen around Larry need to improve, and that gives him a better chance to be successful,” said Johnson in an interview with 104.5’s Wake Up Zone on Tuesday. “Just like everyone on our team, and every one of our coaches, Larry can do better.”

Smith understands his responsibility to come through when the team makes mistakes.

“Most definitely, being the quarterback and the leader of the team, I put it upon my shoulders, and it’s my job to get the team back together and start playing much better and executing better,” Smith said.

Johnson emphasized the underappreciated continuity that comes from keeping his starting quarterback in for the whole game.

“The quarterback has a lot of responsibility where he’s seeing things out there, and you take him out of it, they may do something he hasn’t seen,” Johnson said. “You put him back in there, and they run a coverage or blitz that he hasn’t seen because he was over there on the sidelines.

“This is a decision that we don’t take lightly. I mean we look at every one of them.”

With nine career starts for the Commodores, Adams brings a much-needed voice of experience to a young group of quarterbacks.

“I just try to help as much as I can from the sideline, use the experience I’ve had, especially coming up with these SEC games, having already played against some of these teams,” Adams said. “I just try to tell him what I’m seeing out there and talk with him about what he’s seeing, just any way I can help.”

No matter how he contributes to the offense in the next seven games, Adams understands the state of the offense and where it needs to go from here.

“We obviously have to be better if we’re going to win some football games, whatever that might be, we have to find a way to get more yardage and score more points,” he said.