Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is already assuming the Commodores will beat Tennessee — the Vols need to take that personally
The Tennessee Vols will finish the season against the Vanderbilt Commodores in Knoxville.
The Tennessee Vols need to be very careful going into next weekend’s home matchup against the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Tennessee is coming off an emotional road win over the Florida Gators — the Vols’ first win in the Swamp in over two decades.
UT head coach Josh Heupel will need to make sure his team quickly forgets about the win over Florida and locks in on Vanderbilt (there will be time to reflect on the win over Florida after the Vandy game).
Fortunately for Heupel and the Vols, Commodores head coach Clark Lea gave Tennessee some bulletin board material on Saturday night after Vandy’s blowout win over Kentucky.
Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is already assuming the Commodores will beat Tennessee
Vanderbilt will enter the game against Tennessee with a potential spot in the College Football Playoff on the line.
The Commodores are currently 9-2. A road win over Tennessee could be enough for Vanderbilt to lock down a spot in the playoff. A loss to the Vols, though, would almost certainly eliminate Vandy from contention.
After the Commodores’ win over Kentucky, Lea initially said the right thing about facing Tennessee next week.
“We need to be focused now on finishing at Tennessee and finishing in Knoxville, and that’s how we give ourselves the best chance,” said Lea.
A few moments later, Lea let himself slip.
The fifth-year Vanderbilt head coach was asked about a sideline interaction with Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia late in the third quarter.
With Vanderbilt leading by 42 points, ESPN’s cameras captured Pavia begging to go back into the game. Lea first said no, before eventually relenting.
“I said to him, ‘You’re done,’” said Lea about the interaction. “And he said to me, ‘Coach, please.’ I said, ‘No, we’re aiming for a championship — I want you healthy for the playoffs.’ And he came back and said, ‘Please.’ He didn’t ask for much. And you know what? Maybe I’m wrong. I felt like at the third point at which he stopped me and said, ‘Can I please go back out there?’ It almost felt like now I owe him this. I owe him the chance to go back out. So, we did. We sent him back out.”
You read that right — Lea is already thinking about the College Football Playoff.
“I want you healthy for the playoffs.”
It was probably meant as an innocuous statement from Lea, but it was clearly a Freudian slip as well — the Commodores are already in the playoff somewhere deep in Lea’s mind.
Vanderbilt’s players should expect to beat Tennessee — that’s the attitude any team should have going into competition.
The Vols, however, need to use every bit of motivation they can next Saturday to avoid an emotional letdown after the win over Florida.
Regardless of what Lea meant by the comment about the playoff, Tennessee needs to take it personally.
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