Everything Vanderbilt Head Coach Clark Lea Said After Vanderbilt’s Win Over Virginia Tech

BLACKSBURG, Va.- Vanderbilt football passed its first major test of the season Saturday night with a 37-20 win at Virginia Tech.

It was not pretty, but Vanderbilt came from behind to win after trailing 20-10 at halftime. The Commodores entire game plan seemed to have changed in the locker room due to how different the two halves were.

As Vanderbilt moved to 2-0 on the season, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea talked to the media and answered questions on the comeback win postgame. Here is everything that Lea said.

Opening Statement

“You know, I'm first, I think, just to say I'm really proud of my team, I'm happy for those guys, and I'm proud of them. That was an ugly game, and, you know, we're not going to be able to get away with playing like that moving forward. But tonight, I think it was a team effort. Obviously, when we played Vanderbilt football, we were able to lock the three phases in position. We were able to manufacture a drive there to start the second half, we were able to generate three and outs on defense and put pressure on the quarterback. And good things happen when you play the right way early in the game. You know, it's almost like they flipped the script on us from a year ago. They were overwhelmingly controlling the game with possession time, two turnovers, I mean, it felt elusive to us. It felt like we couldn't quite grip it. And the way the guys responded coming out of half again, I'm really proud of them, and I think we can build on this. Obviously our challenge and really, what excites me is that we have so much better football ahead of us, and if we can clean up the things that we have control over, then we're going to have a chance to continue to celebrate. If we can, obviously we're going to leave it a chance. But I'm proud of the guys. I thought in the second half, we played at a really high level, even though it wasn't perfect. And it feels good to celebrate this one knowing that we're gonna have a really tough one again next weekend, and we need to turn the page tomorrow and get to work on South Carolina, but tonight we can celebrate.”

What was the key to the success of your run game, especially during the second half the offensive line?

"I think those guys got the game ball for us tonight. They were physical. They were able to separate the line of scrimmage. And this is a really good defensive front and really a good defense, and I felt early on, they were able to get past us and get the ball in the backfield and get us off schedule. But we stuck with it. It was throw to score, run to win tonight, and we knew that to close the game out, we were going to need to find that running game. And you know, credit to Coach Klenakis, Jeff Nady, the offense line, they set the tone for us, and we're going to need them to do that moving forward, but that was the difference. And obviously our runners knew what to do with the ball and where to find the hole. And both MK and Seddy had big runs. Jamezell had a big screen conversion there at the end. Obviously, Diego had some tough yards too, as he always does, and so it's a group effort, but credit to the offensive line."

Schematically speaking, were there any adjustments for the offensive line, or is it just more to more so, sticking to the plan?

"Sticking to the plane. I mean the run game is like body punches, and it doesn't always sell tickets. You can't always see the impact, but there comes a point where the opponent gets tired of the body punches. That was part of it. I think Tim did a great job kind of identifying maybe some soft spaces in the line of scrimmage, or plays or leverage points where we could attack. And so as the game went, I felt like he got a good feel for how they were lining up to us and where we could find the spots and so maybe that's where the adjustment was. But I felt like the o-line had the right attitude at the onset. And again, the penalty stuff we have to clean up, but the way they blocked, and I thought, also protected in situations where we need to get shot plays up that they were the difference for us."

You mentioned it was an ugly game. There's the penalties, the turnovers, you guys are still able to win by 24. Is that an indicator of how talented you guys are as a group?

"I think we are a really good team when we play well. I don't know if that works, but that's how I feel, you know? I mean, we have to play the game the right way, and so we were good enough tonight to hang in there. And part of that is talent, and I think that's what you're talking about, but I think it's also resilience. And I just, I got a ton of respect for my team. They never back down. They never panic. They never, I mean, tough environment where we start out kind of flat and we really were, we were feeding the environment, and they just didn't flinch. The credit goes to them. Credit goes to the coaching staff. We're good enough to win games. We're going to need to play better to do that in our league, but tonight, our resilience and our fight kept us within striking distance. You want to talk about margins. I mean to come out and to have the ability to in back to back possessions take a lead in the game. When we went to halftime feeling like we were a million miles away from it, things like that first drive a defense that builds to a stop and a field goal attempt there. I mean, that's a big deal. So again, I think there's a lot that we can take from that, and I think it speaks a lot about the character of our team. And now our job is to clean up the playing of the football. We can do that."

You mentioned the penalties, and this is kind of the second straight week that it's been a problem, especially with all the procedural ineligible man downfield and things like that. What do you think is the root cause of that? And how can you clean that up going forward?

"Well, we have to address the ineligible downfield. Those are RPO throws, we're just breaking, we're puncturing that three yard cushion. And that, to me, is we can coach through that, and we can better understand that as a staff. To correct it, I want to take responsibility for that. One of those was a receiver lined up covering up the tight end. That's a focus here. You know that those are the ones that we need to eliminate and focus and execute as players. And so there's shared responsibility there, but the downfield once you know, we got to take a look at how we're coaching and teaching those RPO throws, the timing of the throw and how we need to adjust to clean that up. The procedural penalty on the extra point was tough, but again, that's something we can coach through and and we will. So, you know, I didn't like it early on, so it took us a second to adjust to the cadence. So they they got us twice on a kind of a clap, delayed snap that once we got back on sides, once we jumped and gave them a free play, and then we had the procedural penalty on the five where they had the ball going on, where we felt like the center flinched before snapping it. So we took off on the flinch. But obviously it wasn't called that way. And so we have to be more disciplined. But not to rehash the penalty. Those are things though, that we'll look at, and some of those we can coach better. Some of those are focusing execution errors, and it's a team effort to get a redirect."

You mentioned resiliency. Diego had to pick on the first drive, and was much more effective down the stretch. Made better decisions. Is he an example of the resilience you saw?

"Oh, sure, yeah. I mean, listen, that kid is as competitive and tough and resilient a person that I've ever known. And I mean, I told him at the end of the game as we had sealed it, you know that the ball's in his hands. I felt like he made great decisions, that the early interception was a situation where I felt like he forced. He wanted the big play, and he felt like we got one design, and Virginia Tech did a great job in covering it. Yeah, that's a good Virginia Tech team, by the way, too. I got a ton of respect for Brent Pry and that coaching staff and that team and you know, again, what they did early on. They put us on our heels. I just credit our players for digging in in the second half and fighting back. We were able to punch through there in the fourth quarter and separate but this is a team that I think is Virginia Tech is going to have a chance to win a bunch of games, and I got a ton of respect for them. "

Sort of just alluded to it. You know, it's sort of a tale of two halves. Can you take us through what went on in the locker room? What was said, or did any players sort of get up and say anything?

"I wish that there was something dramatic to tell you about. I mean, there was buzz in the locker room, there was confidence, there was eye contact. And, these guys were ready for adjustments and ready to go attack. And I mean, again, they never flinched. The coaches did a nice job with adjustments and kind of resetting and recalibrating again. Where were the yards on offense? Where were the stops on defense? You know, what were the things that we were conceding, that we needed to tighten up? I think they did that. And then my message to the team was very simple, and it was not emotional. I still believe we're the better team. We have to clean up the way we play. And that was it, you know, and again, they were able to actualize that in the way we attacked the second half. And that first possession coming out, the score was big. The first stop was big. And once we got going, you could feel the momentum shift on the field. And I was proud of the way they handled the adversity the first half and where they came out in the second half. And we can, we can learn from that. We can build on it. You're never out of the game."

How good was it to have you know, some of those circus catches that Tre Richardson made, and what kind of impact has he had so far?

"Well, I mean, he made a difference tonight. He made a difference last week too. We've seen it in practice. But he's a weapon. He's fast. He has really good ball skills. You know, the contested catch again for the touchdown was an awesome play. And again, it was a great throw. Also, Diego is confident in Tre and puts the ball on so he's been a great addition to a room that I feel like is very strong. You know, you talk about weapons. I mean Junior Sherrill, who wasn't really able to practice this week, got back on Thursday. Yeah, I was proud of the way he showed up tonight. Obviously, Eli Stowers made a couple of nice big catches. Richie Hoskins continues to be kind of steady and consistent. Martel showed that. Trent Hudson hasn't yet had the chance to impact the game yet, but he's a really good receiver. So there are weapons now offensively that are going to allow us to have explosive plays. Brycen Coleman, who catches his first touchdown tonight. That was a huge play in the first half for us. Cole Spence is a great target. I mean, I could go on and on. That will allow us to counter punch, that'll allow us to gain in chunks, that'll allow us to score more points. And tonight, we needed that, because we had the deficit we had to overcome, and it wasn't going to happen just by grinding out yards on the ground. We needed to run to win, but we had to throw to score, and we were able to accomplish that."