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Clark Lea Hawaii postgame press conference

De'Rickey Wright and Jayden McGowan postgame press conference

The projections were the same as always: Bottom of the SEC. Plenty in the conference and elsewhere have been expecting the same old Vanderbilt football in 2023.

I wasn’t one of those people. I’d seen these Commodores practice. I believed they’d be better than assumed.

After their opening game, however, I’m no longer so sure.

The Commodores got lucky. And they knew it.

“We’re all disappointed because we know we can play better,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said.

Tennessean: Scare from Hawaii was a warning that Vanderbilt football can't ignore
(by Gentry Estes)

Tennessean: VU survives scare against Hawaii, wins season opener
(by Aria Gerson)

Hustler: Vanderbilt outlasts Hawaii 35-28 in season opener
The Commodores opened their season with a 35-28 win over Hawaii led by three touchdown passes from AJ Swann
(by Frankie Sheehy)

Our defensive line looked good in practice in the pass rush because they were going against our offensive line. Our offensive line in the running game looked good because they were going against our defensive line. Bottom line, they both stink. Need some upgrades FAST.

The game ball went to De'Rickey Wright, whose two interceptions twice bailed out Vandy... those two plays were both highlight reel plays... if you know his story, this moment was quite heart-warming.

commadore wrote: ↑Sun Aug 27, 2023 8:16 am Our defensive line looked good in practice in the pass rush because they were going against our offensive line. Our offensive line in the running game looked good because they were going against our defensive line. Bottom line, they both stink. Need some upgrades FAST.

Can’t argue with you there, sir.

BrentVU wrote: ↑Sun Aug 27, 2023 6:28 am Clark Lea Hawaii postgame press conference

De'Rickey Wright and Jayden McGowan postgame press conference

Dear gosh Brent...can VU not afford a cordless mic to pass around to those asking questions??? Not hearing the questions asked has been a problem for years!!! Such a simple thing to fix. This has been a problem in other sports interviews as well. Doesn't matter if indoors or out.....GIVE the folks a damn mic to pass around!!! How pitiful.

After all these years of complaining, justifiably, about Vanderbilt’s unwillingness to change, you can’t seriously complain when the change is so extensive that it causes inconvenience. Can you? If you like complaining that much, let’s talk about the first glance at Clark Lea’s third Vanderbilt team.

Now that may be worth a bit of grousing...

The Athletic (Premium): VU’s win against Hawaii displays beauty of progress, ugliness of bad football
(by Joe Rexrode)

I think this photo is an absolute classic... I think it is from AP...

All things considered the crowd wasn’t bad. And I think we would all agree, as the father of a former player texted me this morning, true SOV would have lost last night

BrentVU wrote: ↑Sun Aug 27, 2023 11:35 am I think this photo is an absolute classic... I think it is from AP...

if only they'd captured the landing.....

Great pic and emblematic of the crowd that stayed through the one hour and 40 minute lighting delay. The crowd on the home side was very good. If all these people show up for the remainder of the season, we would actually have a majority of Vandy fans in attendance.