Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea admits he nearly made a choice that would’ve majorly impacted how the game against Tennessee played out
Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea nearly made a decision that could’ve changed the outcome of their win against the Tennessee Vols.
The main reason the Vanderbilt Commodores walked away from Neyland Stadium with a 21 point win over the Tennessee Vols last weekend was because Vandy won the “middle eight” (the four minutes before halftime and the four minutes after halftime).
With Tennessee leading by seven points, Vanderbilt went on a three minute drive just before halftime that ended with a touchdown and tied the game at 21.
The Commodores then got the ball back to start the second half and went on a nearly seven minute drive that ended with a Sedrick Alexander rushing touchdown, giving Vanderbilt a seven point lead.
That sequence — Vanderbilt was plus 14 in the middle eight — was the defining moment in the game. The Commodores did a good job of closing the door in the fourth quarter, but the middle eight is where they really won the game.
Clark Lea almost decided to take the ball to start the game instead of deferring
Vanderbilt was in position to win the middle eight because the Commodores chose to kick off to start the game, deferring their choice to the second half.
Commodores head coach Clark Lea admitted on Tuesday during an appearance on 104.5 The Zone’s 3HL that he considered taking the ball to start the game because of the Volunteers’ success on opening drives.
“Early in the week, we talked about maybe taking the ball,” said Lea. “Just because Tennesse’s had so much success on the first drives and in the first quarter. But we really kind of took an approach to the week to make it about us, and what is our strategy? What best positions our team?
“Because we believe in who we are. We believe in this group, and so we deferred. And it happened to work out where we were able to possess the ball there (at the end of the first half). We chewed the clock out in the first half — I think we gave them them 12 seconds on their return possession (to end the first half). They kneeled it out. And then coming out in the second half, that was a drive that was missing for us in the Alabama game. We were in the same position. We just didn’t have that return drive. But I thought that was a great way to start the second half. Then we got a stop defensively, and it just kind of snowballed from there.”
Coaches love to stress the importance of winning the middle eight. Some games it’s more important than other games. In this game, it was arguably the most important sequence of the night. And it went Vanderbilt’s way in large part because Lea showed belief in his team by choosing to defer instead of taking the ball first as a reactive strategy to Tennessee’s strong offensive starts this season.
The Vols, by the way, went three-and-out to start the game. The lack of success on that drive, which foreshadowed how the game would go, ended up dooming Tennessee more than they realized it would at the time.
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