Clark Lea shares Vanderbilt's motivation after 2021 loss to South Carolina

Last season Vanderbilt and head coach Clark Lea came up just short against the South Carolina Gamecocks, losing on the road 21-20. A loss like that is sure to stick in the minds of players returning from last season’s team and could serve as motivation. But will the Commodores draw on the emotions of last year’s close defeat at the hands of the Gamecocks? According to Lea, don’t count on it.

When asked how his Vanderbilt team will approach Saturday’s matchup against the SEC East rival, Lea likened it to every other game.

“Just like in every game, we haven’t really spent much time on a year ago. It’s a different team. There’s a number of guys that were there in the locker room that felt the sting of it. It was painful. But we’re not going to carry that with us on the field,” said Lea.

“We’re focused on this team playing at its highest level, and we think we have a chance to do that. For us to get to that point on Saturday, where things click into place, we have to have a great week of preparation. And we’re not at a point in the program where we can skip steps. We can’t make assumptions about just showing up and putting the ball down on Saturday. We have to earn this through the week.”

Vanderbilt finds themselves at the bottom of the east division, tied for the worst overall record in the SEC at 3-5. They have also yet to secure a win in conference play with a 0-4 mark. But heading into Saturday’s game, The Commodores have a good chance of upsetting the Gamecocks If they can limit the effectiveness of South Carolina’s run game and transfer quarterback Spencer rattler.

“We know we have a good enough team to earn that result, but the proof is in the doing it,” said Lea. “So, we won’t spend time on last year. Those of us that were there were there and remember it. But we’re not going to use that as leverage; emotional leverage this week. To me, this is about this team, team two finding a higher level performance and putting a complete game together against a conference opponent.”

Knowing you have a team good enough to win is only half of the battle. Vanderbilt must execute on Saturday if they want to pick up their fourth win on the season and end their current four-game losing streak. But that is easier said than done. And Lea wants his team to accomplish this without utilizing emotional leverage. It’s okay if the Commodores play with emotion, but they can’t afford to play emotionally against another difficult SEC opponent.