Clark Lea just said the quiet part out loud, and the rest of the SEC should probably be paying attention. Vanderbilt dismantled No. 10 LSU 31-24 on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium and clinched bowl eligibility for the second straight season. They improved to 6-1 for the first time since 1950, but the Commodores’ head coach didn’t exactly pop champagne.

When asked about reaching that magical six-win milestone that guarantees a postseason berth, Lea’s response was ice cold. “It’s not something that we’ve thought about. We have higher goals,” the head coach told reporters after the game. That quote encapsulates everything about what Vanderbilt has become under Lea’s watch. This isn’t the same program that used to celebrate making it to the Birmingham Bowl. This is a team that just beat LSU for

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