Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea explains slow start, turnaround vs. Alabama A&M

Heading into the fourth quarter Vanderbilt, the Vanderbilt Commodores had a commanding lead over Alabama A&M, 33-10. At the start of the quarter, the SEC network team covering the game caught up with the Commodores’ head coach, Clark Lea, to get his thoughts on his team’s performance so far.

“Yeah. I actually felt defensively, outside that first drive where we were taking on so much water, I thought we played well,” said Lea. “We made the adjustments and got stopped. Offensively (we) got careless with the ball on the interception. And too many third downs on offense. I mean, we gotta convert on first and second down. I thought we got some rhythm here in the third quarter offensively. Disappointed in the big play on defense. But it looks like we’re back in that rhythm defensively. So, we gotta finish this thing out.”

Vanderbilt is looking for their second win of the season after knocking off Hawaii in Week 0. But unlike last week’s contest, the Commodores offense started the game slow. The offense struggled much of the first and second quarters. Their first score didn’t come until quarterback AJ Swann connected with wide receiver Will Shepherd for the first of two touchdown connections in the game. Vanderbilt would take a 12-3 lead into halftime.

Swann has since found his rhythm in the second half, and the Commodores offense has been on a tear. In the third quarter, they added 14 points, and in the fourth quarter, the hits kept coming. And Lea credits the change in tempo for the Commodores’ success against Alabama A&M’s defense:

“I think establishing the run and getting some tempo to get him some throws for sure here it, and we gotta keep the pressure on them right now and temples the way to do that. We’ve been methodical, just to kinda undress some of their stunts and blitzes. But I think tempo could be a great answer for us to keep the ball moving.”

Vanderbilt has found more than the rhythm as they have tacked on another three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead Alabama A&M 47-10 with seven minutes to go in the final frame. Vanderbilt may have started the game off slow, but it appears as if Lea and the Commodores are well on their way to starting off the 2023 campaign 2-0.