Clark Lea liked plenty of what he saw from Vanderbilt’s defense in the first scrimmage of fall camp, but he left FirstBank Stadium with a clear complaint: the perimeter has to tighten up.
The Vanderbilt head coach said the defense has generally been doing “a nice job in multiple facets” during camp, and he was encouraged by the secondary’s work in coverage. Still, Saturday’s scrimmage exposed a problem on the outside, where the offense was able to turn runs into steady gains too easily.
“We have to be better on the perimeter. I thought the offense always had a four to six-yard gain on the perimeter.
So, we’re not playing behind fence posts. We have got to be able to compress the block and stop the momentum of the running backs,” Lea said.
“Those can easily be negative yard plays. Credit the offense and credit the blocking on the perimeter.”
Lea also singled out Vanderbilt running back Evan Hampton, saying the scrimmage was easily Hampton’s best day of camp. Hampton’s work helped create the defensive stress on the edge.
In the passing game, Lea said the group has been stronger overall. He did note that the corners could do a better job of staying on top of pass catchers, but he likes where the unit is headed, especially with the way the safeties and corners have looked in coverage.
“We are playing better in coverage. We are stickier in coverage.
We’ll always be multiple and I like what Steve [Vanderbilt defensive coordinator Steve Gregory] has done with his pressure designs. I think it’s going to create challenges and so I think we’ve got to continue to progress that way,” Lea said.
That pressure has a purpose beyond the defense itself. Vanderbilt is using practice to make sure quarterbacks Jared Curtis and Blaze Berlowitz are seeing a variety of looks now, not later. Gregory has been dialing up different pressure packages to force them to process under duress, with the idea that those reps will pay off once the season starts.
Lea said that approach is part of the point.
“The quarterbacks benefit from it because they’re not going to see much in games that they haven’t already seen in practice. As you get to a game plan, you start to streamline looks and get specific about where the play lies. So I think we’ll be equipped for that,” Lea said.
For Lea, the first scrimmage brought both confirmation and correction: some promising signs in coverage, some useful work for the quarterbacks, and a reminder that the defense still has work to do against outside runs. With two weeks left in fall camp, Vanderbilt has time to clean it up.
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Vanderbilts Depth Picture Looks Better Than Fans May Have Expected
Nick Rinaldi has quietly become one of the more important pieces in Vanderbilts defensive mix, carving out a steady role at linebacker and drawing some outside buzz for his pro upside. His production last season gave the Commodores a reliable tone-setter in the middle of the defense, and it fit with a broader sense that the roster may have more useful depth than expected as the team looks to build consistency across the board.
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