Clark Lea understands failure. The Nashville native grew up wanting to play professional baseball, a sport where if you fail only seven times out of 10, they’ll put you in the Hall of Fame.

Lea sure tried to make it work. He played Division III baseball at Birmingham-Southern and was a bullpen catcher for the Nashville Sounds. It simply wasn’t meant to be.

But Lea did have success playing football at Vanderbilt. He transferred home in 2002 and started as a walk-on fullback. Lea was eventually put on scholarship and earned two degrees in political science. Football was far more welcoming to Lea than baseball.

A school known mostly for football failure is now ready for nothing but success. The 25th-ranked Commodores (5-2, 2-1 SEC) have already rolled the Tide this season. Next comes No. 5 Texas (6-1, 2-1).

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Saturday marks the first time Vandy will play a regular season game as a ranked team since 2008.

“Obviously there were things we could have done earlier in the season to strengthen our position,” Lea said this week, “but I think we find ourselves perfectly where we’re meant to be.”

This isn’t some fun weekend vacation in Nashville. As Alan Jackson and George Strait once sang, they got away with murder down on Music Row.

Sure, Vanderbilt was once the SEC’s doormat. Alabama, Georgia, Florida, heck, everybody, would wipe their feet and get an easy W. But No. 15 Alabama got its ’Doers blown off just a few weeks ago as quarterback Diego Pavia became the hot new thing in college football.

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When Texas was in the Big 12, everybody laughed at Baylor — until the Bears won back-to-back conference titles. Anything’s possible with the right amount of work.

“You know, my experience here in my past was understanding just the amount of negativity that kind of surrounds what’s possible at Vanderbilt,” Lea said. “And I think to do this at a level that we want to do it, you almost have to kind of be seen as crazy from the outside world.

“And I think those that dare and those that chase the greatness that comes from doing something really hard are a little bit crazy, you know?,” he added. “And I represent kind of that within me, and I represent that within the spirit of the people that have signed up and committed to moving this program forward.”

How is Vandy doing this? The Commodores rank eighth nationally in third-down conversion (52.1%). They have the SEC’s best conversion rate inside the opponent’s 20-yard line (96.6%). They lead the SEC in time of possession (33:00). That may not be important to some, but it’s hard to score if you don’t have the ball.

Essentially, Lea wants to eat up the clock and limit your opportunities. Alabama normally averages 62.7 plays per game. Against Vanderbilt, Bama had 45. Kentucky averages 63.7 plays per game. Against Vandy, the Wildcats had 57.

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“We’d love nothing more than make this a really ugly game that comes down to time of possession and creating extra opportunities for our offense,” Lea said.

Vanderbilt had multiple two- and three-win seasons during the 1990s. Bobby Johnson did a little better, and James Franklin had two nine-win seasons before he bolted for Penn State. Derek Mason slumped in his time in Nashville. Maybe it’s the school, or maybe Lea is truly different.

Either way, Texas must take this opponent as serious as it did Michigan or Georgia. Or else the Horns will be dumped in the Cumberland River, just like the goal posts after the Alabama game.

Lea and these Commodores are different.

“When the winds outside the program were shifting and negative, we were disciplined not to pay attention,” Lea said. “Now that they’re celebrating and giving us attention, I’m not saying that we don’t appreciate that because we do, but we're certainly not going to give power to it.”