Vanderbilt Football (3-2) took the field at FirstBank Stadium on Saturday to take on No. 1 Alabama (4-1) on a magical Nashville night. The matchup marked the 86th meeting between the two teams, and the first since 2022. Vanderbilt entered the game having never recorded a victory over the top team in the nation. With all odds stacked against them, head coach Clark Lea and the Commodores shocked the Crimson Tide — and the entire world — with a 40 to 35 victory.
Lea was emotional after the game, but he didn’t mince words.
“Independent of the way I feel right now. We expected to win that game. That’s not shocking to me,” Lea said postgame.
Alabama won the coin toss and chose to defer, putting the ball into the capable hands of quarterback Diego Pavia and the rest of the Black and Gold’s offense to start. The Crimson Tide’s away fans, which took up the vast majority of space in FirstBank Stadium, were loud and proud from the opening kick. That didn’t deter the ‘Dores, as early chunk plays through the air to AJ Newberry and Quincy Skinner Jr. put Vanderbilt in Alabama territory early.
A brilliant play from Pavia saw him escape a sack before rolling left and finding the ever-reliable Eli Stowers for a 17-yard gain to get the Commodores into the red zone. From there, Vanderbilt returned to its true identity, pounding the ball on the ground for three straight plays. The third time was the charm for the ‘Dores, as Sedrick Alexander absorbed a massive hit and drove into the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown.
With a 7-0 lead, Brock Taylor and the Commodores’ special teams unit kicked the ball away to Heisman frontrunner Jalen Milroe and the rest of the Crimson Tide. First and second down saw little happen, as a Justice Haynes rush gained four before Randon Fontenette broke up Milroe’s second down attempt. From there, lightning struck for Vanderbilt.
De’Rickey Wright got a hand on Milroe’s third down attempt, popping the ball up to Fontenette, who snatched the ball out of the air and ran 24 yards to paydirt. The play continued Vanderbilt’s picture-perfect start, putting it up 13-0. Taylor missed the extra point, slowing the Commodores’ momentum marginally and keeping the lead at just 13 points.
Alabama finally got things back on track with a 46-yard dime from Milroe to CJ Dippre. After a few short runs, the Crimson Tide converted on third down to keep the chains moving inside Vanderbilt’s 10-yard line. Moments later, running back Jam Miller broke a tackle in the backfield and scampered into the end zone for an eight-yard score, cutting the deficit in half, 13-7.
Alabama fans let Pavia hear it as Vanderbilt’s offense went back to work, and Jesse Mirco would ultimately come out to punt after Alabama stopped Alexander short of the chains. Vanderbilt caught a break when Alabama was flagged for having two players with the same number on the field, extending the drive.
Alabama, one of the most commonly penalized teams in the SEC, gave Vanderbilt 15 more yards after a facemask penalty. Just when it seemed the Crimson Tide had finally forced a stop, Que Robinson was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Commodores yet another conversion. The oddities continued, as Alabama was once again flagged for a penalty after stopping a third-down Pavia rush at the goal line, its fourth penalty of the drive.
Alexander finally made the Crimson Tide pay, as he extended his arms over the goal line on a one-yard touchdown rush to bring Vanderbilt’s lead back to 13. The play capped off a 9:50, 75-yard drive. The Commodores nearly struck even more gold after Emmanuel Henderson fumbled the opening kickoff, but the play was reviewed and the officials later ruled that he was down by contact.
Milroe missed a wide-open receiver on the ensuing drive, and a Nick Rinaldi sack forced a third and long for the Crimson Tide. Freshman phenom Ryan Williams appeared to convert after a crisp buttonhook route, but a review later showed that he bobbled the ball, promptly ending the drive.
Pavia, as he’s done so frequently this season, electrified the Commodore faithful thanks to a 12-yard scramble and a nine-yard strike to Sherill. A false start penalty and an incomplete pass from Pavia to Skinner Jr. halted momentum, forcing a field goal attempt from Taylor. The sophomore kicker — the recipient of plenty of negative attention after Missouri last week — was calm and composed with a loud Alabama crowd hanging over him, drilling a 49-yarder. With just over four minutes to go in the first half, Vanderbilt Football led 23-7.
Alabama picked up some much-needed chunks in the passing game as Milroe — held under 100 total yards for the vast majority of the first half — found Kobe Prentice and Haynes for 15 and 9-yard gains, respectively. Miller finally opened things up for the Crimson Tide with a speedy rush up the middle of Vanderbilt’s defense, ultimately getting forced out of bounds by Wright at the 3-yard line. The junior back found paydirt — his fourth score of the season — on the very next play to bring Alabama within nine points as the scoreboard flashed 23-14.
On an all-important third down, Beck schemed up the perfect play — a flip to Stowers — for a conversion and much more. The 31-yard pass put Vanderbilt over the midfield line but a delay of game penalty set Vanderbilt back to the 43-yard line. With the wind in his favor, Taylor came out for a 60-yard attempt with just 13 seconds left, but Lea ultimately decided against it, calling a timeout and punting instead. The play brought the half to a close.
The story of the first half, as Lea emphasized throughout the week, was one of possession time. Vanderbilt kept the ball out of Alabama’s hands for much of the game’s opening 30 minutes, leading 21:28 to 8:32. The strategy worked wonders for the Commodores, as Milroe threw the ball only 10 times for 99 yards. He couldn’t get it going on the ground, either, with his three rushes going backward five yards. Vanderbilt played its cleanest half of the season, committing just two penalties for a total of 10 yards.
Offensively, Vanderbilt rode Alexander and his 14 rushes into the end zone twice, relying (per usual) on the ground game heavily throughout the half. 30 rushes to just 10 passing attempts highlighted Beck and the rest of the offensive coaching staff’s commitment to churning the ball on the ground.
Alabama’s visiting fans got loud from the opening moments of the second half after Henderson Jr. returned the ball to midfield and Milroe found Robbie Ouzts for a quick first down to push into Vanderbilt territory. Williams came up big back-to-back first-down catches after getting blanked in the first half before Milroe found space up the middle of the field on a 14-yard touchdown rush, bringing Alabama within two points.
The Crimson Tide came out firing in the second half, as their 53-yard touchdown drive took just 2:51 off the clock. With pressure mounting and their lead in jeopardy, the onus was on Pavia and the rest of the Commodores’ offense to respond. The always-reliable New Mexico State connection from Pavia to Stowers once again proved fruitful on a third-and-long as the two hooked up for a 12-yard conversion. After back-to-back rushes went nowhere, Pavia once again found Stowers on third down. This time, the 6-foot-4 monster of a tight end fended off an Alabama defender and stretched his arm over the first down marker to keep the drive alive.
A few more short runs left the Commodores with yet another third down, and Pavia delivered a strike to Junior Sherrill that was ultimately dropped, ending the drive. A picture-perfect punt from Mirco made things difficult for Alabama, dropping it inside its 5-yard line.
On a massive third down, Vanderbilt’s front seven forced Milroe out of the pocket, and over the line of scrimmage. This negated Milroe’s would-be 49-yard bomb to Germie Bernard and forced a punt as the Commodores took over at Alabama’s 45-yard line.
It didn’t take long for another turning point of the game to arrive, this time in the form of a fourth-and-short. Needing just half a yard for a fresh set of downs, Pavia lined up (somewhat surprisingly) in shotgun formation. Beck drew up a sensational play call, opting to pass in what seemed to be an obvious running situation. The offensive coordinator must have seen something in Alabama’s formation, as it worked like a charm: Cool as a cucumber, the graduate quarterback fired a perfect ball to Sherrill in stride for a 36-yard touchdown.
Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer took little time to respond as Milroe found Williams for a sensational 58-yard score along the left sideline on third-and-six. Back-and-forth scores left the ‘Dores and Tide neck-and-neck, with the former leading 30-28 as the third-quarter clock ticked down.
As chants of “Defense” came down from the sea of red along the east bowl, Vanderbilt’s offense delivered once again. Another flip to Stowers went for a massive chunk as the junior ran for 33 yards after the catch and eclipsed 100 yards on the day. Vanderbilt finally found some room on the ground as Pavia and Newberry ran for 8 and 12 yards, respectively. A holding play negated what would’ve been a Richie Hoskins touchdown rush, forcing Taylor to kick a field goal. His 33-yard attempt was true, and it put the Commodores up 33-28.
With just over 10 minutes left in the game, a red-hot Milroe took over for Alabama, firing a 20-yard strike to Dippre before hitting Bernard for another chunk. Just as it seemed like the Crimson Tide would take their first lead of the game, Miles Capers shed his blocker and put a monstrous hit on Milroe, jarring the ball loose for Yilanan Outtara to fall on. The play completely shifted momentum in favor of the Black and Gold, who took over from their 47-yard line.
From there, it became a matter of chewing the clock and moving methodically down the field, something Vanderbilt has done masterfully all game. 11 and 20-yard completions to Stowers and Skinner Jr., along with an eight-yard rush from Sherill, had Vanderbilt well within striking distance. With just over five minutes left to play, Pavia found Kamrean Johnson for a six-yard score to extend the lead to 40-28.
The touchdown sent the student section, which had been vocal all night despite the sea of Alabama fans it was placed next to, into a complete and utter frenzy. The Black and Gold were loud as Milroe took his first snap — a completion to Josh Cuevas for five yards. Disaster struck on the next play as Bernard flashed extended for an otherworldly 47-yard, toe-tapping catch on the right sideline.
The clock continued to tick as Alabama worked methodically toward the end zone, but Lea’s defense forced the play of the game: a fourth-and-one from the Commodores’ 2-yard line. DeBoer reached into his bag of tricks for this one, as Milroe found Williams on an end-around for his second score of the game. With 2:46 left to go, Vanderbilt led 40-35.
The Commodores got the ball back but faced early adversity as a Pavia run went nowhere and Alabama took its first time out. The quarterback stayed calm and found Alexander along the sideline for a 19-yard gain to inch his team closer to victory. Two more conversions on the ground iced the game for Vanderbilt as the Black and Gold officially knocked off No. 1 Alabama for their first-ever win over a top-ranked team.
It wouldn’t have been the best win in program history without a proper celebration, though, as Vanderbilt’s students stormed the field to celebrate with their team. It was a special moment for the fans, the players and the coaches.
“There were some really hard days in December. We had to really dig in and say: ‘What does this need to look like?’ We’re here to win,” Lea said.
Vanderbilt will hit the road next week as it travels to Lexington, Kentucky for a 6:45 pm CDT primetime clash.
