Clark Lea: Vanderbilt football has not received explanation for officiating vs. Florida

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea talks with a referee during the third quarter of the game against Florida at FirstBank Stadium Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.
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Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea said Tuesday the team has not received an explanation for the officiating at the end of Saturday's win over Florida.

As the clock wound down, a Gators receiver caught a pass and appeared to be in bounds and short of the first down, but the officials stopped the clock at two seconds, allowing Florida to get one last Hail Mary attempt off. But the attempt sailed past the back of the end zone, ending the game.

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said the team has not received any explanation from the SEC about the officiating on the last play. However, Lea said he has not been particularly urgent on the matter considering that it ultimately did not affect the outcome. The Commodores won the game, 31-24.

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"What I see is an opportunity for us to execute that. Hail Mary defense, I was really proud of the way the defense stayed locked in," Lea said. "And I thought that moment was a moment of growth for us, because we've had those situations, if you're not focused in that moment, and you're getting caught up and trying to officiate the game as a player or your attention's at the wrong place. And when that ball goes up, and the opponent has a chance to come down with it. It felt like the way we defended that snap, it really took away options. And yeah, I was proud of that. I've not spent a lot of time to get an explanation, though it was a chaotic, few seconds there, for sure."

Vanderbilt (5-6, 2-5 SEC) plays Tennessee (9-2, 5-2) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network.

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

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football: No explanation for Florida officiating