Clark Lea named coach of week, Vanderbilt football team of week after stunning Alabama

Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea was named the Dodd Trophy National Coach of the Week after leading the Commodores to an upset of Alabama.

The award, given by the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation and Peach Bowl, Inc., is given to a coach whose team had a “significant victory” during the previous week.

Vanderbilt won 40-35 Saturday at FirstBank Stadium, its first victory over the Crimson Tide — at the time No. 1 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll — since 1984 and its first win over a top-five ranked team ever.

“Coach Lea just secured the biggest win in Vanderbilt’s football history,” Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation, said in a news release. “This kind of upset victory puts a program on the map and epitomizes everything we love about college football.”

The Commodores were also named the Cheez-It National Team of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America for the second time this season. They defeated Virginia Tech in the season opener, and are the first team to earn that honor twice in the same season since South Carolina in 2005.

Alabama dropped to No. 7 in both of the most recent polls. Vanderbilt received votes in both polls (26 in the AP, four in the coaches).

COMMEMORATIVE COVER How to order a commemorative copy of Vanderbilt football win over No. 1 Alabama

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football, Clark Lea honored after upsetting Alabama

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/clark-lea-named-coach-week-213756586.html

Author : The Tennessean

Publish date : 2024-10-07 21:37:56

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.