Everything Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea Said After Vanderbilt’s Win Over Utah State

NASHVILLE - Vanderbilt finished nonconference play with a bang, taking down Utah State 55-35.

It was a slow start for Vanderbilt on both sides of the ball, but that changed quickly down the stretch of the first half. Diego Pavia put on a masterful performance that ended up separating his team from the Aggies.

Vanderbilt will look to continue to climb the rankings as it is off to a 5-0 start to the season, one win away from securing a spot in a bowl game at the worst. At the best, Vanderbilt may begin to be in postseason conversations with plenty of opportunities to stack its resume. Here is everything Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said postgame.

Opening Statement

“I think in some ways, I'm the worst at this. I have a unique ability to take all the fun out of a win and want it to be perfect. And the reality is, that's a good team we played against today. That's a well coached team. I got a ton of respect for them, and we didn't finish quite like we wanted. We were able to play some kind of down the line, guys that need the snaps and will be important as we move forward in the season. But the story of this one, to me, is battling through a tough and competitive first half, making the plays we needed to make to separate. All the drives that started in the middle eight, we came out net 24 to seven. That's a really nice job, and 17 to nothing in the third quarter. That's a team that synced up. And I just have a ton of respect for our team. This is week five, five in a row. I think that they have shown up week in, week out, and they've done the work in the process. They've stayed focused on the climb, and they've come out on top five times. And so obviously, Diego had a big day, and Junior Sherrill had a big day, and Miles Capers showed up again for us. We punted the ball well, and Joe McVeigh did a great job in coverage. And there's a lot. The forced fumble Bryce Cowan and the fumble recovery for KT. So there is just a lot to like about that. And again, a great 20 point win. And we'll learn from the things that we didn't like about, maybe some of the sloppiness there at the finish. But on the whole, I'm really proud of this group, and I'm excited to continue on with them.”

Coach, eight penalties for 91 yards but how many of those were fundamental, technical, like you like to say, and how many of those were penalties that you maybe didn't agree with?

“Well, I see the way you phrased that. I have to be careful now. Some of them, you know, look, we get the punt there where we're called for holding. I didn't love that, but I'll also see it. And we got to be better, fundamentally, technically, moving our feet, that's a big moment.. And I need to be better at kind of resetting from that. I was upset. I knew Utah State was going to be challenging, and that we needed to try to create some space between us and them. That was a chance for us to do it. And here's a sequence, right? We go three and out on that snap. That's the four downs now for three and out there. Drive extends. We get another three and out, and we go to block the punt, and we're called for roughing. Marlen feels like he touched the ball. That's what it looked like from our sideline. But that's not what it was called. And so it is what it is. That drive ends up in a touchdown for them. So again, those are fouls that are going to happen. I think one of them could be cleaned up with some fundamental technical work and erased a big play, a momentum swinging play for us. And then one of them is more about we're aggressively going after the punt. And we didn't get enough of the ball to have it called our way. We had a procedural penalty in the first quarter, I believe we had a holding penalty. The holding stuff is going to happen. And those things happen. I'm not going to go through every single one. That's all I can remember. On top of my head, we had a defensive holding late. I felt that it was sloppy. We had a chance to, I think it was on third down. There probably would have been a fourth down go for them, but we were pressuring the quarterback and just grabbed the jersey. And I want to play more detail there. I did feel like coming out of the early kind of rash of penalties we did settle in. And we played cleaner as the middle part of the game went on, and that's what allowed us to separate. So we'll address the ones that we need to play better through. I don't like penalties. Obviously today it didn't, it didn't hurt us, but it will moving forward, and so we need to clean our game up a little bit.”

Despite the penalties, you guys were still able to turn around defensively. So what can you say about the adversity that your defense just sort of battled through and gave the offense the ability to sort of blow the game open?

Well we put the defense in some tough positions, obviously, with the interception too. I think we got to a point where clicking in place. We have to look at those drives where we didn't quite get to the stop early enough. Because it felt like, when we got on our heels, the ball ended up in the end zone. And that's not, that's not okay. So we'll look at what are the things that are going on within drives? Where can we clean up the score right before half? I felt like that was sloppy on the defense. We blow a couple of rush lanes where their quarterback, who's a good athlete, is able to extend the play and find someone open down the field. We have to crush the pocket, and we have to make it hard on him to escape. And those were kind of blatant fundamental technical breakdown. That's not how we rush. We then cut the back loose on a wheel down the sideline where we needed coverage on that we're trying to pressure, and we need that back peeled. And those are examples of plays where you credit Utah State because they're capitalizing on our mistakes. But our control is in the execution and in and so it just gives us things to coach through. It gives us things to learn from, and those are frustrating and painful things, but we're going to focus on them tomorrow. We are cleaning it up right now. We're going to celebrate a resilient defense and a defense that stood strong when we needed it to and allowed us to distance ourselves from the opponent and allow us to get some guys in the game that need to play snaps.

You said in fall camp that you thought Junior Sherrill was ready to take a step forward. Just this kind of performance, maybe evidence that he kind of has taken that stuff forward?

“Yeah, I mean this, when you talk about performance you're seeing, you know the results of a lot of hard work. So this guy is invested. He's played through injury here early in the season, which has been so impressive, and for every time he catches a pass, there's probably six or seven snaps where he's just blocking relentlessly on the perimeter. He sets the tone for us. He's an unselfish player. He's a Nashville guy. He's a guy that signed up for this when it was early in the build, and so we've gone through a lot together. I've got so much love and respect for Junior, and he's got so many more of these games ahead of him, you know? I mean, he's a really good football player, and today was his day, and I'm happy for him. And from my understanding, it's the most touchdowns in the game since Earl Bennett. So anytime we can try to start passing Earl Bennett in the record books, I think that's a good day for Vanderbilt.”

You guys had eight tackles for loss in the night. Just how would you grade the defensive line performance in general?

“I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage. I really felt like we erased the run game for them. Now you again, credit that offense. They're creative. They're formative. There was a lot of empty and kind of what we call yo empty, with the tight end, the core, some three back stuff. I mean, it's very similar to who we are offensively, honestly. But I did not like the end of the half drive, like I said. There were rush lane issues there that I think we have to play better. But I felt like we erased a run game tonight or today, and they broke the one late. They read the ripper there. And I don't know how long that went for, but they had 188 yards of total offense, I think in the fourth quarter I mean, that's where our focus is going to be on how we clean it up. But that long run there in the fourth was that hurt, because I felt like the final statistics aren't representative of how we play. I was really proud of those guys.”

Talk about the passing game and just how it continues to improve weekly. And is Diego doing anything that doesn't impress you more each week?

“Diego tied a school record today with five touchdowns. It was his first 300-yard game here at Vanderbilt. And I said this, I don't remember it all runs together, but at some point I said that this story that's not really been talked about is how much he's improved in the year. I think this guy is really playing at a high level right now, putting us in good positions. Have success, getting us in good plays, making good decisions with the ball, playing with confidence. So again, as he goes, our team will go. That's true of every team. It's the quarterback that drives it. Now, all that said, I don't think you can talk about Diego without first talking about how our offensive line is playing, and they don't get the credit they deserve. But they are creating time and space for him in the pocket, which has given him room and routes to escape, which, again, he has another great rushing day today. I mean, he's got, as I see it here, and that is 79 yards. 33 was as long. That's the offensive line. You know that starts with them. And then the other part of it too is he has the ability, and we have multiple weapons for them. I think nine guys with targets, seven with catches, if I'm reading this correctly. Just the number of tools that are around him right now make him a better player, too.”

Go back to the penalties. How much of a concern is it knowing who you got next week, knowing you're on the road against Alabama, what do you have to clean up like? What do you feel like you have to clean up going into with what you saw today?

“We’re going to need to play clean in terms of our operations. It will be a tough environment. I mean, our team is going to be so excited to play. So we're going to celebrate this one, and we're going to get past it, but the operational penalties have to be cleaned up. You're inviting the environment into the game when you have a false start, or when you're not playing clean that way. I don't want to split too many hairs on some of the in-game penalties, obviously, again, the stuff on special teams. I think one of them we can clean up. One of them is that we're playing aggressively. And I think the film will show whether or not we got a piece of that ball. But I trust this team, you know? I trust the team. Look, do we need to play perfectly? No, that's not what this team is. But do we need to play clean enough to win? You know that's the key, and we'll focus on playing better football. I mean, there's a lot to learn from today. We know that the task at hand, but we're excited for it, and this group has positioned us to be undefeated heading down there, and that means a lot.”

One follow up on Diego. It seems like this year, maybe it's the O-line, maybe it's just he's smarter, like he seemed to be able to play safer, work to stay away from injury and kind of limit the hard hits, it seems like.

“I would never say that he's playing safer, because he is a wild man out there in the best of ways. I think we are doing a better job protecting him and taking hits off him and giving him designed gives, and also creating space for him in the pocket. We took him out of the game. He was begging me to keep playing. I mean, this guy, if they would come back out and play some more now you go back out there and play some more too. So that's just who he is. I love who he is. I think the offense is performing well around him. I think our staff has done a good job of positioning him in ways to keep him out.”

Yeah, was it difficult at all to keep his team focused this week and keep them from looking ahead to what you have next week?

“This was our 263rd day on the mission together. And that's 263 days of building trust. And it is always for us, one climb at a time. And so whether you go back to January and it's being in the moment and focusing on the task at hand and a hard training session or an OTA, whether it's spring practice and we're at practicing seven. We're in practice seven in the summer. As we go through June, July and then into training camp. What I'm trying to do, the point I'm trying to make is that this group knows how important each day is for the program. And to answer your question, no, we didn't talk about any of it because of 263 days of trust. I know how these guys show up to work every day. I know how important it is for them. I know how much it matters to them, and so that excites me about where we can go honestly. And I will tell you that I feel like we have as mature a team as anybody in the country that way. So I'm proud of them, but it's always one climb at a time. These guys have invested for 263 days, and we'll live to see 264.”

Coach, it looked like Marlon Jones got the start over Martel Hight at cornerback. Also felt like, just based on the eye test, he was playing a little less. Is there any kind of load management going on with Hight, considering his workload in all three phases so far?

“This is not load management. I'll have to kind of look at that with respect to snap counts and coaching decisions, but none of it has to do with Martel. If anything, it's, you know, Marlon’s earned the right to be out there. And I think what we've done is we have in a preparation kind of world we've spread Martel then. Bringing them back in to focus on a few things that we need them to do really well, defensively, and then the return game and so there is nothing like intentional or nothing that stood out. No load management. He's doing great that way. We're bringing him into focus on the things that he needs to do really well to help us get where we're going.”

Eli Stowers had that drop, and then Diego went back to him twice in a row. He scored the touchdown. Does that say anything about Eli and their connection, that they were able to get right away and score the touchdown?

“That is true brotherhood. I mean, those guys like each other a lot. And we all believe in Eli and if anything, it's like so rare that you see him drop the ball. And I think one of the touchdowns, I believe, was a tempo play. Anyways, he came right back to him, maybe even twice in that sequence. That's been a fun duo to watch. And I'm happy, I'm happy for Eli and Diego but obviously for Eli to bounce back says a lot about his character, too.”