What Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said this week about facing Tennessee

What Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said earlier this week about the Commodores closing their season with Saturday’s game against No. 25 Tennessee (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville:

Opening Statement

Excited for the final challenge of the season and going on the road to play a good Tennessee team and our in-state rival. It’ll be a nice way to go out with our best performance. Think we’ve had a good couple weeks here, obviously just getting off the practice field. Two good days, which we need to have in order to play better on Saturday.”

Who will start at quarterback for Vanderbilt at Tennessee, AJ Swann or Ken Seals

“That’s a great question. Obviously I’m not gonna answer that in a direct way and I’m sorry for that. But I think you understand, I think offensively in general, we’re trying to find, we’re fighting to find that formula and have not (found it). We’ve not been pleased about how we played on that side of the ball. I think the quarterback at times bears too much of that burden in terms of just the criticism leveled at that position. And yet that that guy’s responsible for getting 10 guys on the same page and delivering the ball where it needs to be. So I’d like to see us design for success. I’d like to see us find ways to make life easier for him and to be creative through that.

“But as far as who that’ll be, we’re gonna let the week play out and determine who gives us the best chance to move the ball. And so much of that for us, is about how we shorten the game, how we can extend drives. When you’re not able to maintain possession, you put a lot of pressure on the defense and special teams. And we know we have to be better, so we’re gonna do everything we can to be better this week.”

The keys for Vanderbilt stopping this Tennessee offense

“You’ve gotta handle the tempo first. And if you’re not able to handle the tempo, they’re gonna be able to get the ball into space to dynamic playmakers. And what does handling the tempo mean? It means you got 11 guys that have gotten the call that are on the same page, that are able to play with their eyes pre- and post-snap to take space early in the down. And obviously we’re training, and I think Coach Howell and the defensive staff have done a nice job of making that a priority in creative ways in practice.

“The second thing about defending this group, this system is stopping the run. This is an area for us a year ago where we really struggled, particularly in the second half, where they were able to get some breakouts. Obviously this has shown up on our film this year, so I’ve talked in here in the past about what it means to defend the run and play within structure. We’ve spent time on the details of that and again, where we can make small incremental progress to be better as a team in terms of taking space around the ball and being within structure and seeing what we need to see. 

“But this is a group that knows how to run the ball. And when you talk about the horizontal stretch of the formation, and again, the vertical creases in the run game, it’s a dangerous combination. 

“And so handling the tempo, stopping the run, and then obviously we can’t play a game where the ball’s behind us a bunch, that they’re gonna take their shots. If we do a good job of getting them off schedule early, you’re gonna see less and less of that. But when they get in rhythm on offense, we know the ball’s gonna go up in the air and we gotta keep it inside in front, down our mistakes and force them to go the long hard way.”

Vanderbilt having an open date this late in the season, before the regular-season finale at Tennessee

“Yeah, I’d like to say that it reflects in the way we play on Saturday, and it’s a great thing. I think in some ways too, once you’re in the rhythm of the season, a late bye is also challenging because there’s only so much you can do other than get healthy, to really find ways to improve in that week. Although I thought we had a good week last week, you’re really looking to shorten practice, shorten exposure. I think for us though we just were disappointed in the way that South Carolina game finished, and I felt like the bye week was a good chance for us to kind of purge that from our system and reset our focus on having a great finish.

“And I I think the guys have responded well. It’s a tough group and a resilient group, and my, my message to them is, and really just telling the truth is putting the film on saying, Hey, this is where we’re not that far off. You know, and it can feel like we’re a long way away, but it’s just a few things. And how do we capture those margins that have been elusive to us this year. And again, this would be a great week for us to do that.”

If he enjoys Vanderbilt’s in-state rivalry with Tennessee

“Yeah, I do enjoy it. I mean, this goes back for me when I was a kid. This week is special to me. And we know we have a lot of work to do to go out and to play a game that we’re proud of in Knoxville. But I think anytime you’re talking about a spirited game and a game that has emotional connection, it’s a great opportunity, again, as a team to go east and to play our best. And that’s what I expect. We need to have a chip on our shoulder. And that’s. again, that’s what I expect.”