Vanderbilt football coach Clark Lea wasn't happy about an illegal formation call against the Commodores in the first quarter of Saturday's 27-24 loss against Texas.

The play happened on a fourth-and-1 at Vanderbilt's 34-yard line with the score tied 7-7. Quarterback Diego Pavia looked to the sideline as if to receive a play call while the ball was snapped, and Junior Sherrill ran for a 9-yard gain. But the play was called back due to an illegal formation.

The stated reason for the illegal formation call was that Quincy Skinner was lined up on the line of scrimmage but his shoulders were not square. That meant that Vanderbilt did not have enough players on the line of scrimmage.

The Commodores (5-3, 2-2 SEC) decided to punt after the 5-yard penalty.

Lea disagreed with the call, saying that Skinner's shoulders did not have any impact on the play.

"I hate when officiating gets in the way of the game," Lea said. " ... Those guys are doing exactly what they're told to do. But I'm anxious to have the conversation about what the point of emphasis was there."

Texas (7-1, 3-1) scored a touchdown on its ensuing drive after the penalty.

The official NCAA rulebook reads, "A Team A player is legally on the scrimmage line when facing their opponent's goal line with the line of their shoulders approximately parallel thereto and either (a) they are the snapper, or (b) their head breaks the plane of the line drawn through the waistline of the snapper."

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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.