So much in college football is about defending, and it has a language all its own. Five years ago, after LSU won the 2003 BCS national championship, Nick Saban made it a point of emphasis to say the 2004 Tigers weren't defending anything, that the crystal ball was safely on campus, and that you don't defend what nobody can take away from you.

Anybody who regularly watches college football has spoken the words "Defense wins championships."

Remember the "We must protect this house!" guy? He was only selling sports gear, but he sure looked like he meant it.

Yeah, players and coaches take that stuff seriously. Are you kidding me? Let an opposing team huddle on the eye of the Tiger at midfield during pregame, and it's on (and I'm not talking about the Southwest Airlines version of "it's on.").

You can get forcibly removed from some locker rooms if you dare to walk over the team logo that is the centerpiece of wall-to-wall carpeting in their sanctuary.

LSU had a rough year in Tiger Stadium in 2008. Georgia won 52-38. Alabama won 27-21. Troy nearly emptied the place before LSU's incredible comeback for a 40-31 victory. Ole Miss won LSU's final home game 31-13, a palindrome that underscored the reversal of fortune the Tigers have experienced in their lair.

A new season of home games begins at 6 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium when Vanderbilt (1-0) visits LSU (1-0). The game will be televised on ESPNU. For the Tigers and their fans, much of the focus will be on defending.

Home turf. Pride. Reputation. The end zone.

Before the season began, the Tigers were talking about atoning for last year's 8-5 record. One game in, there is almost a sense they have to explain themselves after a 31-23 victory at Washington, a season opener not immune from the typical first-game problems. Were they blips to soon be forgotten or warning signs of things to come?

Last month I spent three days in Knoxville, Tenn., and I got to listen to talk radio and watch part of a Tennessee Vols practice. I got a basic understanding of third-and-Chavis, of the frustrations some Tennessee fans had with former defensive coordinator John Chavis.

One game into his time as LSU's defensive coordinator, Chavis is under the microscope. Les Miles and his players seemed to all but promise better defense this season. Chavis has to make that happen.

Phillip Fulmer, who resigned as Tennessee coach last year, spoke Thursday about his former defensive coordinator and his new situation at LSU.

"I had a chance on several occasions to talk to Coach Chavis, and it is a transition," Fulmer said. "You're changing systems, and players are trying to understand the new system that you want, and he made a couple of key personnel moves. I think he moved a really fine safety to linebacker. That's a bit of a transition.

"I think as time goes on, he'll get out of them what Les hired him to do. The question I have is, and I guess this wasn't really answered -- I didn't watch all the Washington game, but I know in the part I watched -- is 'Can the defensive philosophy come through?'

"In this league, if you're not good up front, and there's so many good players and big guys that can run you down, and I don't know if they're there right now."

Gary Danielson agreed with Fulmer, who is the newest member of the CBS Sports announcing team for college football. Danielson said the defensive line, which used to be the LSU strength, could be considered the team's weakness right now.

During the teleconference with the CBS crew, I asked Fulmer about a term I heard in Knoxville. I asked about third-and-Chavis. He didn't seem familiar with the expression.

Some fans, I said, gave me the impression that whenever Tennessee's defense was in a third-and-long situation, the Vols turned soft, and the offense picked up the "long." I asked Fulmer if that's a fair assessment of Chavis.

"No, I don't think that's right," Fulmer said, adding he was going off memory and not a recent review of statistical trends. "That's probably not fair.

"It has something to do with who you're playing," he said, laughing to drive home the point that not all offenses are equal on third-and-long.

Fulmer took the time to remind anyone listening that it's an achievement to put an offense in a third-and-long situation, and he considered it a Chavis strong point.

"John's good," Fulmer said. "He can get them to third-and-long, and then I guess that's the time that you've got to play the best. I think he's pretty good at it."

I asked Fulmer if, in his new role as an analyst for CBS, he could give an honest, objective opinion of Chavis as a defensive coordinator.

"Yeah, I think I certainly can," he said. "I hired him when nobody knew of him at all, way back. This was '94 or '93, something like that, and the guy did a tremendous job for us. We ended up with a very poor football team offensively last year and didn't help him much, but we ended up with, I think, the third- or fourth-ranked defense in the country. Wow, what a great job he did last year with that group of guys."

Tennessee and Alabama tied for No. 3 in the nation in total defense last year, giving up an average of 263.5 yards per game. In scoring defense, the Volunteers ranked No. 10, allowing 16.75 points per game.

Fulmer reiterated he is capable of being fair and candid about Chavis, and he chuckled when he said Chavis knows if he doesn't do well, Fulmer will say it on the air on CBS.

"I will say this," Danielson said, "he (Chavis) will not approach his stats last year from Tennessee. No way. No offense to Coach (Fulmer), but people who played Tennessee last year knew they didn't have to score a lot of points. They played it close to the vest, and the game was slowed down. The teams that play LSU know they're going to have to score points, and it'll be a much more open game, and he will not approach those stats."

Fulmer agreed.

"Yeah, that's a great point," he said.

The numbers support the argument with extreme prejudice. Tennessee ranked No. 111 out of 119 teams in the nation last year in scoring offense, averaging 17.33 points per game. The national leader, Oklahoma, averaged 51.14 points per game.

So, LSU and Vanderbilt will meet in Tiger Stadium, armed with sophomore quarterbacks with plenty of upside: Larry Smith of Vanderbilt, and Jordan Jefferson of LSU.

Vanderbilt coach Bobby Johnson said Smith, who started for the Commodores in their bowl game last year, did a good job with some flaws in the season opener, a 45-0 victory against Western Carolina.

"I expect him to get better and better every week," Johnson said.

"We had most of the playbook in and weren't afraid to call it with Larry," Johnson said. "Larry's a smart kid, and he ran a form of this offense in high school, so it's not foreign to him. I think he understands what we're trying to get achieved."

Johnson laughed at the idea of LSU fans being disgruntled after the way the Tigers played at Washington.

"I wish they could come in here and sit with me on the film and watch it," Johnson said, clearly entertained by the suggestion there is unrest in Baton Rouge. "They would be more pleased. I think LSU played very well. I was really impressed with Jordan Jefferson. I think he is just going to be really tough to defend all year long.

"People have got to be ready for him to pull it down. They've got to be ready for him to run the option. He is extremely fast, and he's got a great arm. I think in the long run, the most explosive quarterback in that game last week was Jordan Jefferson, not (Jake) Locker."

After giving an overview of LSU's team, Johnson said the final score of the Washington game is misleading.

"If you don't see what the score is and see the circumstances," he said, "you