The premier in-state rivalry for the state of Tennessee will take place in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

Before SEC foes Tennessee and Vanderbilt wrap up the regular season in Knoxville, Commodores head coach Clark Lea met with the media.

The Nashville native and former Vanderbilt player took over the head coaching position in 2021 — the same year Josh Heupel took over the Vols. Since then, Tennessee is 2-0 in the series.

As a player in 2002-2004, Lea went 0-3 against the Vols, as well.

Here is everything Lea said about the matchup ahead of Saturday.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION

"Obviously, excited for the final challenge of the season. Going on the road to play a good Tennessee team and our in-state rival. It will be a nice way to go out with our best performance. Think we've had a good couple weeks here. Obviously, just getting off the practice field this morning. Two good days which we need to have in order to play better on Saturday.

Injury wise, I think most guys that weren't long term we're going to wait back. We have a few guys we're monitoring through the week. Martel Hight, Leyton Nelson, Savion Riley and Marlen Sewell, all of whom would be listed as questionable right now but we feel good about the progress they're making. The other one of note is just Yilanan Ouattara had a procedure that ends his season so he won't be with us. But excited for him to be on the road to recovery."

"That's a great question. Obviously, I'm not going to answer that in a direct way, (reporter's name), and I'm sorry for that. I think you understand. Obviously, offensively in general, we're fighting to find that formula. We have not been pleased with how we've played on that side of the ball. I think the quarterback at times bears too much of that burden in terms of the criticism level at that position. That guy is responsible for getting 10 guys on the same page and delivering the ball where it needs to be. I'd like to see us design for success. I'd like to see us find ways to make life easier for him and to be creative through that. As far as who that will be, we're going to let the week play out and determine who gives us the best chance to move the ball. And so much of that for us is about how we shorten the game. How we can extend drives. When you're not able to maintain possession you put a lot of pressure on the defense and special teams. We know we have to be better so we're going to do everything we can to be better this week."

"I'd like to say that it reflects in the way we play on Saturday and it's a great thing. I think in some ways, too, once you're in the rhythm of the season, a late bye is also challenging because there's only so much you can do other than get healthy to find ways to improve in that week. Although, I thought we had a really good week last week. You're really looking to shorten practice, shorten exposure. I think for us, though, we just were disappointing in the way that South Carolina game finished. I felt like the bye week was a good chance for us to purge that from our system and reset our focus on having a great finish. I think the guys have responded well. It's a tough group and a resilient group. My message to them, and really just telling the truth, is putting the film on and saying this is where we're not that far off. It can feel like we're a long way away but it's just a few things. How do we capture those margins that have been elusive to us this year? This would be a great week for us to do that."

"I think independent of who the quarterback is, you've got to handle the tempo first. If you're not able to handle the tempo, they're going to get the ball into space to dynamic playmakers. What does handling the tempo mean? It means you've got 11 guys who have gotten the call and are on the same page that are able to play with their eyes pre and post snap to take space early in the down. Obviously, we're training and I think (defensive coordinator Nick) Howell and the defensive staff have done a nice job of making that a priority in creative ways in practice.

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Tennessee turns to young wide receivers to pick up load down the stretch

The second thing about defending this group, this system is stopping the run. This is an area for us a year ago where we really struggled. Particularly in the second half where they were able to get some breakouts. Obviously, this has shown up on our film this year. I've talked in here in the past about what it means to defend the run and play within structure. We've spent time on the details of that and again, where we can make small incremental progress to be better as a team in terms of taking space around the ball and being within structure and seeing what we need to see. But this is a group that knows how to run the ball. When you talk about the horizontal stretch of the formation and again, the vertical creases in the run game, it's a dangerous combination. Handling the tempo, stopping the run, and then obviously, we can't play a game where the ball is behind us a bunch. They're going to take their shots. If we do a good job of getting them off schedule early, we're going to see less and less of that. When they get in rhythm on offense, we know the ball is going to go up in the air. We got to keep it inside, in front, down our mistakes. Force them to go the long, hard way."

"I think anytime you have a chance to play against a team that — yeah I do, I do enjoy it. This goes back for me when I was a kid. It's not something that — this week is special to me. We know we have a lot of work to do to go out and play a game we're proud of in Knoxville. I think anytime you're talking about a spirited game and a game that has emotional connection, it's a great opportunity. Again, as a team, to go east and play our best. That's what I expect. We need to have a chip on our shoulder. That's what I expect."

–––––

– TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM.

– ENJOY VOLREPORT WITH A PREMIUM SUBSCRIPTION.

– SUBSCRIBE TO THE VOLREPORT YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

– FOLLOW VOLREPORT ON TWITTER: @TennesseeRivals, @TMansfieldMedia, @ByNoahTaylor, @RealTBannerman, @RyanTSylvia, @Dale_Dowden, @ShayneP_Media, @TylerIvens, @Hunter_DeNote.

–––––