NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt football team is past the halfway point for its 2024 spring practice. The Commodores held the first scrimmage of spring ball on Saturday.
“It was a good scrimmage, I think we got about 70 plays,” Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said following the scrimmage. “I loved the way the offense started. That first drive showed what we want to build to. Defensively, we had good stuff, too. What you want in a scrimmage is good back-and-forth and competitive balance. I saw that in the first drive, the defense created some chances to get a stop and the offense was able to make plays.”
Commodore quarterbacks were live, providing a look at Nate Johnson, Blaze Berlowitz and Drew Dickey in new offensive coordinator Tim Beck’s system against Lea’s defense.
“In spring, the defense should be ahead of the offense,” Lea explained. “(The defense) has the ability to make a mistake, offensively if you have one guy in the wrong spot, you end up giving up a sack.”
Lea also admitted his new role overseeing the defense presents some conflicting feelings, especially as the offense capped the scrimmage with a big play touchdown to transfer wide receiver Jeremiah Dillon.
“It’s a love and hate,” Lea explained. “For me, I’m conflicted, but I love the way the offense finished.”
The Commodores return to the practice fields on West End Tuesday and Thursday before the second of three scrimmages takes place Saturday.
