NASHVILLE—-With a downpour beating down on his upper body and Barton Simmons as well as a number of Vanderbilt football staffers flanking him, Clark Lea stood there stoically. He was staring out at the field, working to come to grips with what he was about to finish watching.
Lea’s team that paraded around all offseason declaring that they had national championship expectations was embarrassed in a 52-17 loss to No. 9 Ole Miss. Vanderbilt never had a chance to win this thing after two late first-half Ole Miss touchdowns and it certainly didn’t in this moment, as Blaze Berlowitz was in front of him leading a late, meaningless touchdown drive.
When it wrapped, Lea followed the lead of a few Vanderbilt staffers and slapped Berlowitz’ hand as he returned to the sideline. Lea wasn’t bouncing up and down in excitement by any means, but any glimpse of joy he did show in that moment was a facade…