Clark Lea full of emotions following Vanderbilt’s bowl loss to Iowa

TAMPA, Fla. — Although the Commodores didn’t end the 2025 season with a cherry on top, their head coach remains proud of the accomplishments on the gridiron, knowing they’re leaving behind a lasting legacy.

Despite Iowa’s 34-27 victory over Vanderbilt on Wednesday, Coach Clark Lea wants his players to keep their heads high after producing a record-breaking campaign. After all, the Commodores gave the Hawkeyes a fight until the very end in the ReliaQuest Bowl, but trailed the entire game. In Lea’s eyes, it was a testament of the grit, passion and perseverance that the team showed the entire year.

At the end of the day, Lea’s squad failed to reach a program-best, 11 wins in a single season, but already secured a milestone with 10, and had a Heisman runner-up in quarterback Diego Pavia. Which is why Lea believes the fans will always remember this year’s team.

“We’re disappointed, but my emotion right now has nothing to do with that, it’s the end,” Lea said. “This team has set a new bar for the program, and I’m going to miss those guys, luckily, we’ll bring enough of them back to keep building, and we’ll find others to hold them and aim for more.”

The slow start in the loss to Iowa is what will haunt Lea for days to come. After all, the stats favor Vanderbilt on paper. The Commodores led the Hawkeyes in total offense, passing yards, yards per play, and first downs. However, most of that production was due to the fact that Vanderbilt had to rally back . The game was never in jeopardy for the Hawkeyes, but if the Commodores played the first 30 minutes like they did the second half, it would’ve been a victory.

Getting shutout in the first quarter didn’t help either. Vanderbilt even trailed by as many as 18 points midway through the third quarter. Still, Pavia’s arm came alive in the second half, and the Commodores’ aerial attack was on full display. Pavia’s 75-yard touchdown pass to wideout Joseph McVay in the third quarter was the most explosive play of the game.

It wasn’t enough though, because of struggles in other aspects of the game. The offensive line failed to protect Pavia consistently, and he absorbed five sacks on the afternoon. The Commodores’ offense only converted two of their nine third down attempts, and finished with 51 yards on the ground. It was also the fifth time this season that the defense allowed 30 or more points to the opposition, and that frustrated Lea.

“The end of the game, being one stop away, that really hurts, but I told the guys, you know, there’s no one phase and no one player that takes responsibility for this,” he said. “We all are, me included, our staff included, and that’s a painful way to finish, but — that’s what’s great about the arena, you go in, you’re not guaranteed, you have to go win it and we didn’t do that.”

Lea will now have to put the loss to Iowa in the rearview mirror, move onto landing players from the transfer portal and more recruiting. Taking down Virginia Tech, Auburn, Missouri, South Carolina, and Tennessee in the same season is something the players should take pride in. Lea believes those are program-changing wins. Regardless of the third loss of the season, the Commodores have momentum for next year, as Lea looks to reload instead of rebuild. In his mind, the best days are ahead of the program, and the players will soon realize that.

“The pain we feel, it will resolve, we will get past it, and we’ll work past it and be left with something we can be really proud of, but for me as the head coach, it’s something I get to build upon, which is so exciting.”