Listing the parts of his body that weren't hurting in the wake of last week's game at Ole Miss was easier for Jay Cutler than going through his many ailments.

Vanderbilt was barely beaten by the Rebels but Cutler, the Commodores' rugged quarterback, was beaten up so severely that he was unable to practice Sunday.

''He was out there and threw a little bit, but he didn't practice,'' Coach Bobby Johnson said. ''I think the term was 'body soreness,' because he was sore over his entire body.''

As it turns out, the redshirt freshman has been the ideal fit for the degree of revamping that has taken place on offense. A less-durable quarterback would have hindered the transition from the multiple, wide-open passing scheme to the more conservative, run-oriented attack.

The option is vital in the new offense and Cutler has run it with the poise of a veteran.

''I've gotten more comfortable with our option,'' he said. ''I ran the option a lot in high school, but it's different here. The scheme is a little different and the speed of the game is a lot different.''

Of course, he also has been clobbered plenty of times since he still has a tendency to keep the ball instead of pitching back to his tailback. Subtracting the losses that have come from sacks, Cutler has rushed for 197 yards and four touchdowns.

But he has had to pay, and the defenses have taken it out on Cutler by leaving him physically battered. That is why the staff will talk with him this week about pitching more often to avoid some of the contact.

''Most of the time he does a good job knowing when to pitch; he made a few bad reads against Auburn,'' Johnson said.

''But Jay's learning and that's not an easy thing to do when it's coming at you at about 90 miles an hour. It does concern us a little bit. But if you will look at the games, Jay's taken much worse hits in the pocket than he has running the option. Some of those hits in the pocket have been kinda brutal, you don't want to watch them too long.''

Vandy's offense has gone from being totally discombobulated in the season opener at Georgia Tech to running crisply just three weeks late at Ole Miss. The Commodores gained only 225 yards, had just nine first downs and did not score a touchdown against the Yellow Jackets, yet had 464 yards, 22 first downs and scored five TDs against the Rebels.

Johnson credits Cutler's maturity for much of the progress.

''I don't think he's gotten any tougher, he was tough at the first,'' Johnson said. ''He's confident, but with his maturity, he's still got to learn to hang in the pocket