As Tennessee football showed, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea has changes to make | Estes
KNOXVILLE – OK, so it got a little uglier than expected at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, what with the jawing and scrapping. But this game – our state’s game – was never going to be a beauty contest.
While fans across college football feasted on tasty matchups and high-stakes drama this rivalry weekend, we’d be snacking on Tennessee and Vanderbilt, two teams with little in common other than the fact that each has underachieved this season.
When Josh Heupel’s Vols underachieve, we’ve learned, they’re still a bowl-bound team capable of blowing out an overmatched SEC opponent.
When Clark Lea’s Commodores underachieve, they are that overmatched SEC opponent.
Would anyone have expected any different?
In a trio of meetings since Heupel and Lea each got to their respective schools, Tennessee has averaged about 50 points (scoring 149), while Vanderbilt has scored a total of 45.
Plus, these struggling Commodores (2-10) haven’t been close to an SEC win all season. Their eight conference defeats were all by at least 16 points. They made these struggling Vols (8-4) – who’d scored two touchdowns in their previous two games – look like last year’s Vols for once.
Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton is hoping the NFL pays attention to this game. He was as good as he’s been in Knoxville, throwing for a career-best 383 yards and four touchdowns and running for two more TDs. Helps that Milton wasn’t pressured much, and he found a lot of open receivers that way. The Vols hit a bunch of big plays they hadn't been hitting, and they amassed 617 offensive yards, cruising in a rivalry that used to present problems a handful of years ago.
Meanwhile, the Commodores’ season died the same way it lived:
Badly.
“To come up short and feel like we weren't able to put together a competitive game is frustrating,” Lea said. “This is a painful finish to a tough season.”
The postmortem for Vanderbilt’s disappointing 2023 season will include injuries and turnovers and self-inflicted mistakes. But those won’t excuse the fact that the Commodores were just a lousy team. The offense had moments, but it wasn’t good enough as Vanderbilt’s seemingly never-ending rotation at quarterback continued for another season.
Its defense wasn’t good enough, either, in any area. That was easily exposed by Milton and Tennessee as it had by others.
“Obviously, I'm frustrated,” Lea said, “but also recognize that it's ultimately my responsibility to get it better.”
Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Lee has said she expects Lea back next season. I’d anticipate changes, though, to the coaching staff. A flurry in the transfer portal wouldn't be surprising, in both directions. Change needs to happen after such a bad season.
I like Lea as a coach and person. I’ve liked a lot of what I’ve seen with Vanderbilt’s program since he arrived from Notre Dame.
But this season? This ain't it.
The gap between Vanderbilt and the rest of the SEC is as vast as ever. After scoring milestone wins over Kentucky and Florida last season to get within one victory of a bowl game, Vanderbilt's regression has been humbling for players and fans.
And for Lea.
After Saturday’s defeat, Lea used two words to place on Vanderbilt’s 2023 tombstone: “This year has been painful and frustrating.”
Painful and frustrating. Sounds like a tough place from which to start.
The problem is it does feel like Lea is still getting started. Three years into his tenure, Lea stands no closer – in terms of wins and losses, at least – to turning Vanderbilt’s program than he was while going 2-10 in his first season.
“This will be a year of learning for me,” Lea said. “Look, I'm hurt. I'm upset. Obviously, I believe in what we're doing, and I believe in Vanderbilt football. And I know that we are going to reflect back on this moment from success. I know we are. …
"None of it is gonna happen overnight. None of it is going to be a flip of the switch and things change."
He's not wrong.
It's just that's something a coach says entering Year 1, not after Year 3.
The SEC, though, is only going to get better with Texas and Oklahoma.
Vanderbilt's 2024 schedule is set up to be brutal.
"There's plenty of examples of programs turning it in a year," Lea said. "We don't need to wait on these results to shift. But obviously, we have to find the formula. That's where my time and energy is going to be spent here as we turn the page."
Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee football proved that Vanderbilt is falling behind fast in SEC
