Everything Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea Said After Vanderbilt’s Win Over South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C.-Vanderbilt football won its SEC opener in dominating fashion as it thrashed South Carolina 31-7.

After an early 7-7 tie, Vanderbilt ran away with the game pretty quickly. The Commodores scored 24 unanswered the rest of the way to pick up a top 15 road win. Vanderbilt was in control seemingly the entire game.

Vanderbilt’s second consecutive road win puts itself in the conversation for AP Top 25 consideration. It is more than likely going to have the ‘Dores in the newest edition of the rankings. With another big win under his belt, here is everything that head coach Clark Lea said postgame.

Opening Statement

“We talked as a team on Tuesday about the fact it's been 17 years since we beat South Carolina. And I've got so much respect for Coach Beamer and this program, and in so many ways, I think our programs mirror each other. They're a physical team. We're a physical team. They want to win in all three phases. We want to win in all three phases. But what was important to me talking about the history of this rivalry in this game, was the fact that the last head coach to beat South Carolina was Bobby Johnson. And obviously Bobby was my coach. And you know, Bobby means so much to me. It means so much to our Vanderbilt family and our community. You want to talk about a first class human being and as a player here, I was here during a time where we didn't have a lot of success. And I think the silver lining I took was, hopefully, the time I invested the work that we put in, we did to set up guys like Earl Bennett for the success he had and for the 2008 ball game. That was one but I watched Coach Johnson and his staff work tirelessly and never once blamed the team. Always came in on Sundays, no matter how poorly we had played with on his yellow notepad the things that we needed to do to improve, and I know I wanted coach to be with us tonight. He wasn't able to be here. I know he and Katherine watched the game. I just want Coach Johnson know that we love him and that he is here with us, and that performance was for him, that we wanted to win this game for Coach, how much I admire him and respect him, and how grateful I am that he gave me the opportunity he gave me, and then chose to coach me the way he coached me. I just want to take this moment to honor him. So thank you for that. Happy to answer questions.”

With that being said, could you just elaborate on, first of all, what he means to you and what it means to do the same thing? Why are those things intertwining so special to you?

“He was here in 2021 when, when we played them so close, and the heartbreak that was. Coach is fighting through some things right now and he just needs to know that this community loves him and respects him and appreciates him. That's why it's important to me. And it just so happens that he's from Columbia. I mean, he’s a South Carolina guy. He lives in Charleston now with Catherine, and this is special for them. And I want to make sure they know that they're a part of us.”

Coach, you guys combined seven for 13 between third and fourth down tonight, just what was working so well on the downs that mattered the most?

“Those conversion downs are about focus and execution. I mean, I think that the play designs were good. Tim Beck delivered again. I got to give him credit. And obviously, then the players have to take the call and execute on the field. But I thought we had a really good design that had players step up. A couple of those were longer conversions that typically tip against the offense. But when you have the o-line playing the way we were playing, guys like Diego and Eli and Jamezell Lassiter they delivered. I think the way we play on offense sets us up for manageable third downs and some of the bigger stories where the chunk gains we got on third downs to extend drives that ended up in the end zone.”

Coach the defense four turnovers. Win a lot of games when you do that. What happened defensively?

“I was proud of the way we attacked the ball. I thought Zaylin’s interception early in the game was a huge play. I think that may have been the biggest of the four, because I felt like we were on our heels, and they had a really good plan to start the game, and their quarterback was finding the guys, and they were finding space, and that didn't feel great. But Zaylin was able to step up and make a big play for us to kind of shift momentum. One of the things that we wanted to improve upon from a year ago was taking the ball away. We felt like we had protected it. We were number one in the country in terms of giveaways, but we needed to create some margin for error for our offense by taking it away a little more, so they don't have to play perfect. And just that work we spent on attacking the ball showed up. And we got pressure on the quarterback. At times, we were disruptive. The two possessions that started at midfield, one at the 43 one of the 50, both ended in fumbles. I mean, that's huge in terms of erasing points. And then the two interceptions, both of them happened in the red zone. And this is a South Carolina team that has been perfect in the red zone coming in. I think they were one of three tonight. That's a big statistic in terms of the way we feel right now, having won the game. So it's a credit to the staff, a credit to the guys and the work we put in. And obviously, the more that we can generate possessions for our offense, the more we have a chance to kind of impose a physical style that I think can wear some teams out over four quarters. And so, hopefully we can continue that. Obviously, it helped us tonight.”

Did your game plan change at all after Sellers went out with the game?

“Sure. I mean, I think there are certain things that he does that are unique to him, and some of it is the game plan. Obviously, you're going to always kind of know where number eight is, too. And so there's still some pieces on the field. I thought their tailbacks had a nice night. You know, there were just things that we needed to adjust as they are still kind of finding an identity. And I thought they had a nice plan tonight, but when they brought their second quarterback in, he's a good athlete. He was able to extend with his legs. There's some things there that obviously are just like Sellers. And right off the bat he was able to find some open windows, and I thought played with confidence, so we stuck to the bones of the plan. We made a couple of subtle adjustments. And obviously, as we got to three possessions, it became a passing game, and we were able to do some more to create disruption because of that.”

Coach, after stopping South Carolina's fourth down, you all converted. What led to that decision to go for it there?

“When we're at that line, I mean, you always have the choice to go or not. I just had to go for it. We took a shot, I believe the play before, which I like, and then we came back with a really nice design and threw a pass to Seddy for the conversion. That's just a part of our identity, a part of our rhythm, and it's a part of our operation.”

Coach, do you feel like this win sends a message, maybe to the SEC that, you know, just knocked off a team that's number left in the country? Does this kind of send a message?

“I don't really care. Honestly, I think it's this team.This one is about our team. It's about the belief we have, and we're going to celebrate it here and go home, hopefully get some rest and need to turn the page tomorrow. This is the beautiful thing about football, is that you can't hold it too tight, you know? I mean, we did enough this week to separate on the field tonight, we're going to need to turn the page, because we got Georgia State next week and and you know they're going to present some real challenges to us like they did a year ago. So as far as messages go, this is more about our team, our confidence, what we believe in. And we know in our league, you got to show up every week. You got to play physical, you got to play together, and we're good enough to win all our games, but we have to play a certain way tonight. We're able to do that so we're able to come out on time.”

You guys have had a lot of bad breaks in this series over the years. Felt like every time the opportunity for one to come up came tonight, you guys just squashed it immediately. What does that say about this team in particular?

“I just think that we played well enough to win tonight. I don't tend to pay a lot of attention to the breaks that we've gotten or not gotten. I don't think we've been ready to win this game. Honestly, that's how I see it. You know, in ‘21 we weren't obviously. ‘22 they came to our place. ‘23 we came here and got stomped. Last year I thought they came to our stadium and they played to our identity better than we did. It was really a hard loss for us in a moment where we really felt like we were at a point where we could gain some momentum, and that scarred us, you know. And over time, scars heal, but you learn from them. And so it was important for this team to show up a certain way and play a certain style tonight. And so, independent of any of the old breaks, this group was ready to win a game tonight, and they did that.”

What do you see in the season so far with Diego? He seems really confident.

“He is. I mean, he's a great player. And anytime he's taken the snap, I've got confidence that we're going to win it. And he's been so efficient. But it's the unseen things sometimes that make the difference, the quiet connections, the humility he comes to work with every day, the belief he has in himself and his teammates. He threw a physical block on a reverse today that was like, I mean, it made the difference in the play. And as much as I don't love those things, I do love them, because that's exactly who he is. When it's his teammate's turn to carry the ball, he's going to be out in front, playing physically to set a tone. And when your leaders do that, when your leaders play that way, it gives everyone else a license to play that way. So we believe in him. We think he's the best there is and I'm happy for him to be having success.”

Coach, you've outscored opponents 68 to 3 in the second half throughout your first three games. What have you seen from your team coming out of the break?

“I think that's a credit to our strength and conditioning staff. You know, it's a testament to our coaching staff to find the answers or find the calls that are on the sheet at halftime. But I think most importantly, most significantly, it's a credit to our team. This is a team that cares a lot. And we have big goals. We have big aspirations, and so you have to play well in the second half to win in our league. And we want to be finishers, and we've been able to do that. Again, it goes back to the fact that every week you reset, you got to redefine who you are. So we'll celebrate tonight, we'll get back tomorrow, we'll go back to work, and we'll have another challenge ahead of us. But yeah, I'm proud of the way we played in the second half so far this season.”

Coach Shane said leading into this week that he thinks this is the best team that he faced while he's at South Carolina. Tonight, you all showed that. What does it mean to have those words of praise from Coach Beamer, but to also go out on the field and kind of prove that?

“Well, like I said, I have so much respect for Shane. I mean, his program, his staff, him as a person, and the way his team plays, and so I take to heart the respect he has for us. I mean, I appreciate that, the idea that we were able to show up tonight and play the way we wanted to play. That's a credit to our players, and it was important to them. I can't give them enough credit. They're the heroes here and the things that we've talked about from January, they have been at work actualizing day in and day out. And when you do that, you become defined by that work. And in a lot of ways, that's where that confidence grows from. And so that confidence is showing up for us on the fields right now, on Saturdays, and we got to keep it up, to keep it going.”

Jamezell is a heck of a story, of a guy betting on himself, and it paid off, isn't it?

“Yeah, I mean, he's been so good with the ball in his hands. We saw it in training camp. Honestly, we saw it in spring flashes. Now he's impacted winning for us, and I believe there's more out in front of them. So really, really happy for Jamezell. Sometimes you get those depth charts set and it's easy just to kind of like, stay in the box as a coach. I think what Ghali and Tim have done in the offensive staff to create opportunities for him to touch the ball. I mean, that's what winning takes. And when we've done that, he's delivered for us. So hats off to Jamezell and let's hope for more out in front of him.”