Virginia
How Virginia Tech game will provide insight on Clark Lea’s Vanderbilt football rebuild
In 2023, coach Clark Lea didn’t do enough to help Vanderbilt football evolve the way he intended, he said Tuesday at his media availability.
That team finished 2-10, with the two wins coming in the first two games of the season. The Commodores lost all their games against Power Five competition by double digits.
Virginia Tech, the Commodores’ opponent on Saturday, started 2-4 with losses to Rutgers, Purdue and Marshall before finishing 7-6. New Mexico State started 2-3 and finished 10-5. Among a slate of wholesale changes in the offseason, Lea brought in former Aggies head coach Jerry Kill, offensive coordinator Tim Beck and quarterback Diego Pavia.
“A team that improves through the season is a testament of a good coaching staff, and I think it was a measure of my performance as head coach,” Lea said. “I thought that last year, it wasn’t for lack of trying, I just never found the formula to get that group to go beyond the performance we delivered.”
Although improvement through the season is somewhat of a litmus test for Lea, 2024 starts with an important game right off the bat. In the Hokies on Saturday (11 a.m. CT, ESPN), Vanderbilt will be facing a bowl team from a year ago. To have any hope of getting to six wins, the Commodores will likely need to defeat Virginia Tech.
During the 2021 season, Lea’s first, the team also finished 2-10. But Lea said he felt there was hope at the end of that season, and in 2022, Vanderbilt started 3-6 before winning two games in November to get to 5-7 − albeit with a crushing loss to Tennessee at the end.
“If I were to share a disappointment that I had, outside of the pain of the results from last season, it would be that I didn’t do enough to get our program to evolve into change,” Lea said. “And it just felt like we could never get that team to the performance that we were proud of, and we suffered because of it. So I’m really interested to start the season. I certainly would love to get off to a great start, that would obviously be a lot of fun.”
Lea took over as the defensive coordinator himself after firing Nick Howell. Lea said that calling the defense himself has been one of his most fun times. With Lea focusing more on defensive duties, Kill has been designated the de facto “head coach of the offense,” with Beck calling plays there.
It will be weeks or months before we truly know how well Lea’s rebuild has worked, but as Lea knows, Saturday against the Hokies will be a big clue as to how 2024 will go.
DIEGO PAVIA How Vanderbilt football transfer Diego Pavia’s unrelenting competitiveness landed in Nashville
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.
A skydiver crashed into the Lane Stadium scoreboard before Virginia Tech’s spring football game Saturday.
Virginia Tech officials said on X that the skydiver “was safely secured and is currently stable” following rescue efforts. The incident caused a delay in the start of the spring game.
“Thankful for game days with Hokie Nation and for the Blacksburg and Virginia Tech first responders whose quick actions safely returned today’s parachuter to the ground without injury,” the university said.
The name of the skydiver wasn’t released.
“Our primary focus remains on their well-being,” Virginia Tech officials said in a statement. “We extend our sincere appreciation to the first responders, event staff, and medical personnel for their swift, coordinated and professional response.”
Video footage showed the skydiver’s parachute landing between the “C” and the “H” on the Virginia Tech lettering on top of the scoreboard before first responders rescued him.
CBS News has reached out to the Blacksburg Fire Department for details on the incident.
A much cleaner performance carried Clemson baseball on Friday, as it answered the previous night’s loss with a 5-1 win over No. 9 Virginia.
Michael Sharman set the tone from the start. He kept Virginia off balance all night, working eight innings while giving up just a single run. There weren’t many free passes, and he consistently pitched ahead, which allowed him to stay in control deep into the game. Hayden Simmerson wrapped things up in the ninth without any trouble.
At the plate, Nate Savoie was the difference. He delivered two home runs, including a go-ahead shot later in the game that put Clemson in front for good. His first long ball gave the Tigers an early edge, and he finished with three RBIs on the night.
Virginia managed to pull even midway through, but Clemson quickly responded. The offense strung together quality at-bats, with Bryce Clavon driving in a run and Luke Gaffney continuing his strong weekend with multiple hits. The Tigers created more separation late, adding another run after working a bases-loaded situation.
Clemson moves to 25-15 overall and 6-11 in conference play with the win. The series now comes down to Saturday’s matchup in Charlottesville.
Contact us @Clemson_Wire on X, and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news and notes, plus opinions.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A car crashed into the patio at Murphy’s Irish Pub on the Oceanfront on Friday night.
Virginia Beach medics arrived at the scene around 7:54 p.m. at Murphy’s Irish Pub and found several victims, according to police. All were taken to the hospital with injuries ranging from non-life-threatening to very severe.
Medics are still on the scene, according to News 3’s team onsite.
This is an active scene and an ongoing investigation; News 3’s team will continue providing updates.
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