For Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea, taking the next step in the program’s resurgence will require defeating one of his mentors on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
His 18th-ranked Commodores (4-0) look to continue their best start since 2008 when they take on Utah State (3-1), off to its own strong start in its first year under veteran coach Bronco Mendenhall.
Vanderbilt enters the nonconference contest after its highest-scoring game in more than a century, a 70-21 rout of Georgia State. The Commodores have outscored their opponents 190-51 this season.
Utah State has won its last two games. The Aggies’ only loss came in another road game against a ranked SEC team, a 44-22 defeat at then-No. 19 Texas A&M on Sept. 6.
With a victory at Vanderbilt, Utah State would match its win total from last season (4-8) under former head coach Nate Dreiling.
The Aggies hired Mendenhall in December after he led New Mexico to a 5-7 record during his lone season there in 2024. Mendenhall, who ended a two-year retirement to coach the Lobos, is the owner of a 143-89 career record with 14 bowl appearances at BYU (2005-15) and Virginia (2016-21).
“First of all, just a ton of respect for Bronco Mendenhall. He’s a guy that has actually been a mentor to me over the years and a friend,” Lea said Tuesday.
In a 2022 ESPN article, Lea said he was an assistant coach at Wake Forest in 2016 when he read Mendenhall’s book “Running into the Wind” about his approach to football and leadership. When Lea became the defensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2018, he incorporated many of those lessons. By 2020, they were talking regularly.
“Particularly in the early stages of building this program, he was a guy that I got in touch with to learn,” Lea said. “He’s been a program builder over his time and also a guy who has a quiet intensity about him. His teams always play a certain way and I’ve always admired him and what he does, and now we get to compete against him.”
Mendenhall said he has been amazed watching the success of Lea, who inherited a team that finished 0-9 in 2020.
“It’s been fun to have a great relationship and see the progress and the growth of their program and the successes they’re having,” Mendenhall said Monday.
The familiarity between Vanderbilt and Utah State goes beyond the two coaches. The Aggies’ defensive coordinator is Nick Howell, who held that role with the Commodores from 2022-23 before joining Mendenhall at New Mexico and Utah State.
Both teams have dual-threat quarterbacks who are putting up huge numbers.
Utah State’s Bryson Barnes leads the Mountain West in passing yards (982) and touchdowns (eight) and has thrown only one interception in 107 attempts. He has also rushed for 197 yards and six scores.
Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia leads the SEC in completion percentage (73.9) and has thrown for 890 yards with eight TDs and two picks. He has rushed for a team-high 215 yards and one score.
“He’s a really good football player and obviously a very good leader, the face, the brand, and I would say the reason that there’s a resurgence at Vanderbilt,” Mendenhall said of Pavia.
The Commodores are three-touchdown favorites to drop Utah State to 2-28 against current members of the SEC.
Saturday’s showdown will be the first meeting between the two programs.
