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Billy Napier says there's 'no question' Vanderbilt is improving

On3 imageby:Sam Gillenwater•11/15/22•

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Vanderbilt football is as high as they’ve been in years. The Commodores sit at 4-6 on the season and just earned their first SEC win since 2019 over the weekend. With them taking a step as a program, Billy Napier is well aware of the challenge that Florida will face in Nashville this weekend.

Napier complimented Clark Lea and the Commodores during his press conference on Monday. He recognizes the growth they’ve shown over the last two seasons. Now they’re the Gator’s problem after picking up such an important win for their program.

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“This is a group that continues to get better. There’s no question, year one to year two, Clark’s done a great job. You can see the improvement within this season,” said Napier. “They’ve got some young players that continue to get better, got their first SEC win in a while. And there’s some momentum that we’ll have to deal with that goes with that.”

Vandy started the season well at 3-1 with their only loss coming to a Top-25 Wake Forest team where weather played a factor in the matchup. After that, someone in scheduling had it out for the ‘Dores. They had to go to Tuscaloosa and lost to No. 2 Alabama 55-3, hosted No. 9 Ole Miss the week after and lost 52-28, and then went back out on the road to face No. 1 Georgia in Athens and were defeated again 55-0.

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Following that murderer’s row of Top-10 teams, though, Lea’s team has been convincing over their last three. They came up short in their comeback at Missouri, hung around against South Carolina, and then shocked everyone as they went up to Lexington shorthanded and were able to knock off a ranked Kentucky team to break their 26-game conference losing streak.

Considering their 2-19 record the last two seasons, this is a major improvement for Lea and his program. They’ll be looking to make another statement against the Gators this weekend. Now, it’s on Napier and Florida to put the Commodores back in their presumed place.