Nashville, TENN--The walk into FirstBank Stadium on Saturday night will come with a conclusion.

Logic would tell you that Vanderbilt will leave the newly-renovated stadium 2-0 as the pitch black sky sets in.

Clark Lea's team feels as if it's got a chance to do more than just that, it feels as if it's got a chance to make a statement against its lone FCS opponent after upsetting Virginia Tech as 13.5-point underdogs on Saturday.

"It's a statement game," Vanderbilt linebacker Bryan Longwell said. "We have good momentum. Eyes are finally on us. Now it's time to prove we are what we say we are and that wasn't a fluke."

Whether it wants to or not, Vanderbilt will make a statement of some sorts on Saturday. What will be up to it is what kind of statement that will be.

Does Saturday provide hope that Vanderbilt can back up Longwell's message, that its win against heavily-favored Virginia Tech wasn't a fluke? Or does it give credence to the opinion that an outing like Vanderbilt provided was a flash in the pan?

Bluntly, will it be like the Vanderbilt of old and come out flat? Or will it shed the demons of the past and take care of buisness in a game that it should?

Lea feels as if Saturday will test an ability that his team will have to show for the remainder of the season.

"It's this ability to reset and refocus that we're gonna have to carry with us week by week," Lea said. "I want us to clean up our game because in the end this is about winning and for us to win at a high level we have to evolve into the best possible team we can become. Hopefully week one is the worst we play."

Whether Vanderbilt responds in a positive way to its emotional week one victory will be a test of where its leadership stands.

"Hopefully we're disciplined enough and mature enough to grow each week," Lea said. "That's the challenge and that's what I'm looking for them to display in our preparation."

Heading into a game in which a spread isn't even available, Vanderbilt appears to be saying the things that would indicate that discipline and maturity.

"We’re looking at the people not differently than we’re looking at any other team or any SEC opponent," junior defensive lineman Linus Zunk said.

Now it's time for Lea's team to back that up like it did a week ago.

It's time for another statement as Vanderbilt departs from its special week one moment.