Nashville, TENN--Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea showed a different side on Saturday night.

The fourth-year head coach lost the buttoned up, easygoing temperament for a minute. For a second Lea was unlike his forward-facing image.

Lea was still polite, but he held a glimmer of combativeness in his words.

He was noticeably upset.

That's because Lea no longer wants to look back. He no longer wants to draw parallels to the unsuccessful recent history of his alma mater's program. He doesn't want to hear about the same old Vanderbilt anymore.

Saturday's 36-32 loss to Georgia State in a game that Vanderbilt was favored in by double digits at one point presented an opportunity to go back to that old way of thinking, though.

Lea feels as if that way of thinking should no longer be relevant, although it is.

"We've gotta battle against this notion that somehow this is something that represents something from our past," Lea said of Saturday's game. "I reject that."

Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers feels that the narrative of the Vanderbilt of old has been projected on his team that is made up largely of newcomers.

"We know it's gonna happen," Stowers said. "People are gonna say that and we're aware of it."

Lea admits frustration in Vanderbilt's lack of discipline, preparation throughout the week and execution in Saturday's game, but won't compare it to games he's seen in the past. .

The personnel is different now on West End than it was in Vanderbilt's flops against ETSU and UNLV, Lea thinks the attitude is too.

"It's a new era," Lea said. "Let's move forward because there's a lot left to play for."

Vanderbilt will have its first opportunity to right the ship as it heads to Columbia to face Missouri on Saturday, a game that will sees them as 21.5-point underdogs.

Lea feels as if his team has "totally different" energy heading into the weekend than they did as their habits preluded disaster this time last week.

Perhaps seeing the fallout of that disaster was what that group needed to see in order to get its process in order.

"I think it's definitely a wake-up call," Stowers said of Saturday's loss to Georgia State. "I think we definitely got complacent."

Vanderbilt had buzz heading into Saturday night and it had its first 2-0 start since 2017, but it didn't have the humility needed to go into Center Parc Stadium and win.

Through three weeks Lea's team has found out that as a result of its mentality it can knock off teams that look to be above their weight class, but it can also punch well below its weight as a result of that.

"Sometimes you can get distracted by your own success," Lea said. "We have a good team, but we're not good enough to play a distracted game."

Vanderbilt did just that on Saturday. That's a tough pill to swallow for Lea, who has long preached a similar message to the one he did as he reflected on Tuesday.

Lea's message won't change moving, but perhaps the way it's received will. That's not something he'll take joy in.

"I'd much rather learn that lesson from a win," Lea said. "I wanted to make a stop and celebrate a win then quickly shift to the same exact message to the team. The message wouldn't have changed. We learn it now through the pain of a bad result."

The bad result is now behind Vanderbilt, at least in theory. What will determine things moving forward is whether that result defines them.

Was that eerie, quiet night in Atlanta enough to completely derail what looked to be a season with upward trajectory?

Or will it be the wake-up call that leads Lea's team towards more consistent results and a tighter reign on its process?

How Lea's team could determine the rest of its season and perhaps more than that.