Vanderbilt’s HC Clark Lea Following 30-14 Loss to Alabama

After Vanderbilt's 16-point loss to Alabama, head coach Clark Lea shared his thoughts on the team's performance with the media. Lea praised the Crimson Tide's quarterback for his incredible performance during Saturday's game.

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Lea began the interview by acknowledging the Crimson Tide and their head coach, Kalen Deboer, for their impressive performance on third downs and in the red zone. Alabama converted seven of 15 third downs and was perfect, going six for six, when reaching the twenty-yard line of Vanderbilt. Out of these six attempts, three resulted in touchdowns and three were field goals. In contrast, the Commodores faced difficulties with two turnovers in the red zone: one was a fumble in the first quarter on Alabama's 13-yard line, and the other was an interception in the fourth quarter on Alabama's 20-yard line. Both turnovers occurred after Vanderbilt had driven more than 50 yards down the field, putting them in scoring position.

Vanderbilt’s head coach praised Ty Simpson for his outstanding performance during the game. The Tide’s redshirt junior quarterback completed 23 of his 31 passes for 340 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Lea highlighted a specific moment in the second quarter when Simpson faced a fourth-and-seven situation. He extended the play and connected with Alabama’s tight end, Josh Cuevas, for an 18-yard gain, resulting in a first down. This drive ultimately led to Alabama scoring its first points of the game.

“We knew coming into this would be a game won on third downs and won in the red zone, and those are two areas that we have been good at, particularly on offense,” Lead added, “I think on both sides of the ball we struggled on third down tonight. I think you have to give Simpson a lot of credit for extending plays on conversion downs, obviously, I'm referring to the fourth down and seven conversion, which was huge in the first half and led to a touchdown.”

Lea highlighted his team's stagnant offensive performance in the second half. The Tide’s defense forced Vanderbilt into two consecutive three-and-outs during the third quarter, allowing Alabama to control possession for over nine minutes—a trend that continued for much of the game. Alabama dominated Vanderbilt in time of possession, holding the ball for 37:03 compared to the Commodores' 22:57. The Commodores' head coach also noted Alabama’s run game, which was particularly effective in the late stages of the game. Jam Miller rushed for 50 yards in the fourth quarter, contributing to his total of 136 rushing yards for the day.

“Offensively, we just seemed never to get into rhythm, especially in the second half, with too many three-and-outs, and that allowed them to take the time of possession, and I'm not sure where that ended, but I know that was not close.” Lea added, “We felt the effect of that late; they were able to establish a run game and ultimately wore us out and came away with the win.”

When asked about his quarterback, Diego Pavia, and his trust in him despite his two-turnover day with both being in the red zone, Lea responded with a message he gave to Pavia following Vanderbilt’s 30-14 loss on Saturday, and a little break down on what he saw during those turnovers and what he thinks about the future of this team after dropping their first game of the season tonight.

“There's gonna be some good and obviously some plays we want back, and I just told Diego in the locker room, I mean, there's no one else I want playing quarterback taking snaps. Lea said, “The one turnover, the fumble, we're going to look at the ball security element of that, and just he’s extending the play, and I believe the defender came from the blind side and was able to get his hand on the ball. The throw you know to me felt a little forced, trying to make a play, pressing to make a play, but all that stuff, I mean, look, we’ve got everything we want out in front of us. We have a good team, and that team held the line. They didn't play well enough to win tonight, and obviously, that last score burns because it feels bad.”

To conclude his press conference, Lea was asked about his thoughts on the performance of his defense in tonight’s game. He responded positively, highlighting the way they fought throughout the match. Vanderbilt’s defense succeeded in forcing Alabama to settle for four field goals, missing one of them. Lea emphasized how this strong defensive performance will help the team compete for victories in their remaining games this season. He also took the opportunity to praise Simpson for his outstanding performance, particularly in finding his receivers in open spaces on the field.

“I love the way we fought. They (Alabama) had, I think, three field goals in the game, but they missed one. You know, that's going to win you games when you're able to force field goals at the end of drives.” Lead said, “I felt like sometimes we conceded some space to them, and they were able to find the space. Again, I credit their quarterback for staying alive in the pocket. Sometimes those are like off-rhythm throws or where you know we’re in zone coverage, and as the play extends, because our rush has been negated, someone's gonna run open in a zone, so you have to give him credit. I think that's what makes him a really good player, and he's been kind of stepping into this rhythm and chemistry here lately. It's helping them perform at a better level offensively, but he played better than we rushed tonight, and we’ll have to look at those things to find ways to improve.”

Alabama will improve to 4-1 on the season. Next Saturday, the Tide will look to add to its four-game win streak when it travels to Columbia to take on the No.19 Missouri Tigers. Vanderbilt will drop its first game of the season, dropping the Commodores' record to 4-1. They will look to recoup next weekend on a bye before hosting No. 13 LSU on Saturday, October 18th.

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