Clark Lea praises former Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis ahead of matchup

Vanderbilt is going to be welcoming an old pal back to Nashville this weekend in former running back and current Kentucky starter Ray Davis. Davis spent the previous two seasons with the Commodores before entering the portal and ending up with the Wildcats.

With the two teams meeting this weekend to open SEC play, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea has nothing but praise for his former star running back.

“Ray’s a good player,” Lea said during his Tuesday press conference. “He was good when he was here. He’s got good vision, good feet. He’s got a knack for finding the space. He’s got a knack for knowing when to cut back and get against the grain and break the long one. He’s also a really good receiver in the pass game and we saw that when he was here. I see that not only they’re using him as a check-down option, but they’re also designing catches for him in the offense, which I think is really smart because he can do that.”

Davis originally transferred to Vanderbilt from Temple, where he made five starts as a freshman in 2019. His first season in Vanderbilt was cut short after three games due to injury but he emerged last year as one of the SEC’s best backs.

He finished the season with 232 carries for 1,042 rushing yards and five touchdowns. With his performance, Davis became only the 10th player in school history to top 1,000 yards.

Then he entered the transfer portal.

“I don’t think that we can be surprised by anything anymore,” Lea said. “That’s college football in 2023. I’m happy for him that he found a home, found success and excited to compete on Saturday. But we’re just not going to be worried about that or be bothered by that. I mean, that is what it is.”

Lea said the two talked about the decision, and that he was supportive of whatever Davis felt like was best for his career.

“We sat down and talked about it,” Lea said. “There’s always layers to things that I don’t know, that I need to talk about now. But it was a great conversation. And at that point, he was exploring options and one of which was an NFL future and then the possibility of, playing his last year of eligibility somewhere else. I supported the decision, just like I do anytime. My job is to not control but to support, to be behind young people as they try to plot their way in life and and have the best experience they can.”

Davis leads the Wildcats in rushing with 236 yards and three touchdowns on 33 attempts. That results in a clip of 7.8 yards per attempt. He also has nine catches for 143 yards and another two scores.

Stopping Davis will be something Vanderbilt will key in during the game, and could end up being a difference maker in whether the team wins or loses.