Coach Speak: Vanderbilt's Clark Lea on Georgia

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is one that has the respect of Kirby Smart. It’s a tough job he’s got on his hands in the Music City, and everybody knows it. This week facing off against Georgia won’t make matters easier.

The top-ranked Bulldogs roll into town with a 6-0 record and off of their most complete performance of the season, dominating Kentucky from start to finish in a 51-13 win over the Wildcats. Meanwhile, the Commodores have lost five in a row. That being the case, focus is primarily on getting better from the crew in Nashville, however, we’ve got you covered with everything Lea had to say about Georgia this week while preparing for Saturday’s game.

Clark Lea shares general thoughts on Georgia (George Plaster Show)

“It is a complete team. They’re, first of all, extremely talented, and they create matchup problems all over the field. You have to be really skilled in spreading those matchups around to not allow them to find the ones they want every snap. It’s a physical team in all three phases. They’re well coached and they’re disciplined. They play within structure, you can see the design, and they’re all on the same page. This is a good program. They’re No. 1 in the country, I don’t know how many games they’ve won in a row, but there’s a reason for all that success. For us, it’s less of a focus on them and more of a focus on how we find our improvement facing the challenge of playing against the No. 1 team in the country. To me, that’s why you do it. We’re excited for it, but certainly this is a good team that gets the attention they get for a reason, and it’s a good reason.”

Lea on Georgia QB Carson Beck (Tuesday availability)

“Good player. I don’t think that they’ve fallen off much. He’s interesting because he’s – they’ve done a great job in the air, and he’s obviously got some weapons. I think he’s got arm talent. I think he’s also a good athlete. That’s not necessarily how they feature him, but he’s got the ability to escape a rush and do damage with his legs too. He’s not afraid to take risks, to put the ball into tight windows, and he’s developed chemistry, particularly with the tight end. I’ve been impressed with him, and he’s going to present challenges on Saturday.”

Lea on Georgia TE Brock Bowers (SEC Coaches Teleconference)

“He’s big and physical, has skills as a runner and a receiver. I’m not too sure he couldn’t play tailback, he essentially plays receiver on some snaps. As a strong catcher, big strong physical player who can run and is tough in space, to me that position when you have a guy like that is such a challenge to defend. The matchup requires size, it requires a physical element but there has to be athleticism too. There’s a reason he’s regarded as one of the best players in all of college football, will be a high draft pick and all those things. He’s a special talent, and he’s been doing it for a number of years. I think they do a great job in the way that they use him. They move him around, and they feature his skills.”

Lea on how to try and defend Bowers (Thursday availability)

“He’s obviously one of the best players in the country for reason. He presents matchup problems because he’s both big and physical and fast like a receiver. You have to try and structure in stops there, create leverage in the matchup by having an extra set of eyes or help that you’re funneling that route to. If you start chasing him down it’s going to be a long afternoon. We’ve spent time on – their base structure is to try and get him the ball any number of ways. We’ll dial in on those and our answers to those over the next couple of days and take our swing at it. But obviously he’s a really good player that’s going to challenge us.”

Lea on the Georgia defense

“They’re physical. They eliminate space. There’s not going to be a lot of space on Saturday, so it’s how we are designing it and attacking it when an opportunity presents. I thought we had opportunities a year ago that we didn’t capitalize on. We had a drive that I remember we fumbled but had a ball on the sideline where we were close to catching an explosive. We’re going to need to capitalize on those and really maintain possession of the ball. Really the biggest thing is how we play on third down which is based on how we play on first down, right? Can we get in situations where we are converting, moving the chains, sustaining drives, and that gives us the best opportunity to prolong the game and get in a position where we’ll strike late. If we can’t maintain possession, we’re not going to end up situations where we’re playing complimentary football. Against this team, they’re too good to not have three phases interlocked.”