Football head coach Clark Lea held a press conference Tuesday following Vanderbilt’s Week 0 win over Hawaii and ahead of the Commodores’ Sept. 2 game against Alabama A&M. Echoing his comments immediately following the Hawaii win, Lea highlighted several positive aspects of the team’s performance while again acknowledging its weaknesses.
“First games a lot of the times are sloppy games,” Lea said. “We certainly survived a sloppy one on Saturday. The game came down to not being able to separate.”
Lea gave several injury updates. Defensive lineman Daevion Davis is out indefinitely with his existing knee injury. Offensive lineman Leyton Nelson is questionable with a sprained foot he sustained Saturday and did not practice Tuesday. Defensive end Darren Agu is also questionable this weekend with an elbow injury. Linebacker Jeffery Ugochukwu is questionable but returned to practice Tuesday after an ankle sprain. Finally, wide receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. is probable with a hamstring strain and practiced Tuesday.
With Vanderbilt rushing for just 39 yards against Hawaii, Lea commented on possible improvements to the running game.
“Most of those runs have pass options off,” Lea said. “So [there were] times where we chose to throw the ball against looks that we would’ve wanted to run it, and times when we run the ball where either AJ [Swann] is meant to keep it or the ball should be thrown out in the perimeter. Those are things that are about AJ syncing up in his decision-making. Obviously, he got the hardest job that way on the field. But through the repetitions and his experience, I think he’ll get better with his post-snap decisions.”
Lea also addressed the Commodores’ weaknesses on defense. Vanderbilt allowed 351 passing yards against the Rainbow Warriors.
“Those are things that to me are coachable and correctable,” Lea summarized. “We’ve got to get back in the process, and you learn about yourselves…You have to tighten your systems and structures down, and we need to be better. But there’s no part of me that’s concerned about that level of improvement. We’ll get there.”
Vanderbilt is facing Alabama A&M for the second time after defeating the Bulldogs 42-0 in 2017. The SWAC team is playing their first game of 2023 after posting a 4-7 record in 2022.
“[Alabama A&M] is a proud program who in the COVID spring was undefeated,” Lea said of the upcoming opponents. “Coach Maynor has done a great job with the team and we’ll be excited to compete against them. Just last week, this will be about Vanderbilt football and how we progress in our systems, our structures, our language, our ability to play 11 guys on the same page.”
Vanderbilt will face Alabama A&M at 6 p.m. CDT on Sept. 2 at FirstBank Stadium.
