Clark Lea calls Florida a 'disruptive team'

When Clark Lea left the defensive coordinator role at Notre Dame to become the head coach of his alma mater Vanderbilt, he knew he was in for a long rebuild. Last week, at Kentucky, he finally led the Commodores to a conference win, Vanderbilt’s first since 2019. Next up is Florida, a team that Vanderbilt hasn’t beaten since 2013 when James Franklin was their coach.

Clark Lea explained the challenges that Florida is going to present, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, for Vanderbilt.

“They’re well coached and they’re a disruptive team,” Clark Lead said.

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“In the South Carolina game, South Carolina was never able to get breathing room and it felt like Florida was punctuating early drives and then generating turnovers and never allowed for any kind of momentum or any kind of rhythmic play, and they can do that. They’re long and athletic and big and fast. So, they cover ground well and they’re disruptive at finishes.”

That disruption causes turnovers, which is something that Vanderbilt has struggled with this season. So, the Commodores are going to need to stay focused on ball security.

“I think, for us in particular, with the issues we’ve had around ball security, we’re gonna have to be really attentive to that,” Clark Lead said. “And, for us to get the result we want, we’re gonna have to do a better job of protecting the football than we’ve done in the past two games.”

Clark Lea on the quarterback plan against Florida

Against a disruptive defense like Florida, quarterback play matters. Unfortunately for Vanderbilt, the Commodores have questions there.

“The person that gives us the best chance to win,” Clark Lea said. “The reason I phrase it that way is obviously AJ [Swann] is our starting quarterback, but there’s a certain level of preparation, there’s a certain level of investment that we expect each week to be prepared to play, particularly at this level. Particularly in the game like we’re gonna have on Saturday.”

Lea also said that quarterback Swann is questionable for the game on Saturday. So, if Swann can’t go, Mike Wright will start for Vanderbilt.