Clark Lea challenges team to clean up mistakes in second half

The Vanderbilt Commodores finally got their season opener underway on Saturday night in Nashville after a lengthy lightning delay. They’re facing off against the Hawaii Warriors on the SEC Network and unlike last year, the Warriors are keeping this one relatively close. Vanderbilt was just leading 21-14 at halftime, and their offensive line struggled mightily to block the Hawaii defensive line for much of the contest. Coming out of halftime, Commodores’ head coach Clark Lea challenged his team to play better in the second half. He spoke briefly with Alyssa Lang of the SEC Network.

“I spoke with Clark Lea coming out of the tunnel. I asked him what the emphasis was to his team at the half. He said, ‘We were in a similar position a year ago. It was a close game. One score game. But this Hawaii team isn’t going away. Just like they believe they’re different. So is the team on the other side. He said the second quarter has to get cleaned up. Uncharacteristic penalties. We got away from the identity that we’ve worked so hard to become,” Lang said of her conversation with Lea.

With 7:50 remaining in the third quarter, Vanderbilt lead Hawaii, 28-14. The Warriors nearly had a touchdown late in the third quarter, but the Commodores’ defense stiffened. Brayden Schager threw an impressive pass in the back of the end zone, but the ball hit his receivers’ hands and fell incomplete.

The Commodores stretched their lead to 35-14 with 14:48 remaining in the 4th quarter, after A.J. Swann connected with freshman London Humphreys on a beautifully tossed 32-yard touchdown strike down the right sideline. It was the first touchdown for Humphreys in his college debut. According to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2023 cycle, he was ranked as the No. 449 overall prospect in America and a three-star recruit.

Clark Lea’s team still had some impressive plays

Once play finally got underway on Saturday night, the Commodores had a number of spectacular plays. First, they had a spectacular 97-yard kick return for touchdown from wide receiver Jayden McGowan. Then, he also had an amazing catch down the right sideline in which he left his feet and stretched horizontally to bring it in.

Hawaii’s defensive line gave Vanderbilt plenty of problems in the first half. The Rainbow Warriors were getting plenty of defenders up the middle to bother Vandy quarterback A.J. Swann. Hawaii got some very accurate passing from Brayden Schager, who threw two touchdowns with one interception in the first half.