Vanderbilt already achieved what it set out to do back in August by making it to the postseason. Ending the season with a win over Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl was just the cherry on top of a historical season. It would’ve been easy for Vanderbilt to get lost in the metaphorical sauce of the chaotic December — from Diego Pavia’s lawsuit and 25 comings and goings via the transfer portal — and fail to prepare for that game.
The ‘Dores didn’t get complacent, though. Instead, they came out and won 35-27, producing their most complete performance since a Week Six win against Alabama.
To truly understand what this victory means for Vanderbilt Football, we need to go back to the 2024 offseason.
Expectations weren’t high for the Commodores entering the year.
Las Vegas oddsmakers placed set the over/under of their win total at just 2.5, and not many people outside of head coach Clark Lea’s inner circle disputed that. Lea and Co. were coming off of a 2-10 2023 season and a 2024 offseason with coordinator changes and transfer additions and subtractions. Expectations weren’t exactly sky-high for Vanderbilt, with a daunting SEC schedule and a tough season-opener against Virginia Tech staring it in the face.
That’s what makes the Commodores’ success this season so special. They didn’t just win their first bowl game since 2013; they did it in a season when nobody gave them a chance. And they did it in a complete fashion.
Vanderbilt’s offense was firing on all cylinders in this one. Pavia stung the Yellow Jackets’ defense to the tune of 244 total yards and 5 total touchdowns; he was appropriately named the Birmingham Bowl MVP for his efforts.
Lea’s defensive unit might have allowed a lot of yards (394) on paper, but this was still an impressive defense performance. One hundred fifty-eight yards came during garbage time after Vanderbilt had already taken a three-touchdown lead. The defense forced three fumbles — recovering one — and nabbed an interception. It produced 7.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks, two of which came from Nick Rinaldi, pushing the former walk-on to six quarterback takedowns on the season, the most by a Commodore since 2017.
So, yes, Vanderbilt’s win over Georgia Tech might have been an amazing experience for the fans who made the trip down to Birmingham, but it’s deeper than that. This season is emblematic of Lea’s progress since taking over in 2021. This win didn’t just provide a fond memory for Vanderbilt fans — it proved to Commodore Nation that Vanderbilt isn’t messing around anymore.
Freshly-baked bread
Pavia is a warrior — there’s no getting around it. Sure, he plays with the careless abandon that many of America’s favorite college underdogs have played with over the past few decades — unafraid to take hits and bet on himself — more than that, though, he put his toughness on full display, playing in every single game this season. Pavia went down with an injury against Kentucky back on Oct. 12 but refused to miss time. He willed Vanderbilt to wins over Ball State and Auburn despite the injury, the latter of which qualified it for postseason play.
Lea never tried to hide Pavia’s injury, noting nearly every week that Pavia was “banged up” but insisted that he’d play through it. The quarterback’s determination to play, while inspiring, was clearly not enough to get him across the finish line of the regular season at full speed, and Vanderbilt (after a three-game losing streak) limped into December.
Many, including myself, questioned whether Pavia was the right quarterback to lead Vanderbilt in 2025. He might have produced some magical moments in 2024, but his injury and the team’s general offensive struggles left a lot to be desired.
Two hundred forty-four yards and five touchdowns later, I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of Pavia’s struggles were because of his injury. The graduate quarterback had nearly a month to recover after the Tennessee game, and he clearly made the most of it. He looked every bit as explosive, confident and — let’s face it — a tiny bit psychotic as he did against Virginia Tech back in August.
His 84 rushing yards were his most since Sept. 21 against Missouri, and he rushed more times (17) than he has since that fateful Alabama win. He threw for a season-high three passing touchdowns and rushed for another season-high two scores.
However, Pavia’s impact goes beyond statistics, as it has all season. His pure (I’ll say it again, borderline psychotic) energy on the field is absorbed by his teammates, coaches and even fans. Look no further than Quincy Skinner Jr.’s 22-yard end-around, when Pavia led the blocking convoy and took on an edge rusher twice his size — knocking the defender over and temporarily out of the game.
Pavia’s development as a passer this season isn’t lost on me, either. He’s made some stellar throws through the back half of this season, and yesterday, he summed it up perfectly. Both the 40-yard strike to Loic Fouounji and the touchdown pass to Skinner Jr. were perfect passes. Not to mention Pavia’s incompletions to Boski Barrett and Junior Sherrill — two drops that would’ve also been massive gains.
This was arguably the best game that Pavia has played in a Vanderbilt uniform. The best part about all of this? Pavia will be back in August 2025.
The kitchen sink
Pavia’s lack of production over the second half of the season wasn’t the only cause for concern for Vanderbilt fans — the offensive playcalling was suspect as the season closed out. Offensive coordinator Tim Beck seemed reluctant to switch up from the scheme that lent Vanderbilt early season success — read options and bruising runs up the middle with mostly short and intermediate passes littered infrequently throughout drives.
Since the Alabama game, our staff has called for Beck to open up the playbook and get creative. Those inside runs and short passes might have worked as SEC teams were still putting film packages on Vanderbilt together, but by the time November rolled around, Beck’s offense held no surprises.
Beck seemed hesitant to change his playcalling, perhaps because of Pavia’s injury and Vanderbilt’s lack of an outside receiver presence. Against Georgia Tech, though, that wasn’t the case. Beck was in full form: end-arounds, trick plays and designed quarterback runs showed that he was keeping some tricks up his sleeve for when Pavia was healthy.
Beck also called for some shots — with the aforementioned Fouonji, Barrett and Sherrill plays representing three of the team’s four deep passing attempts. Pavia also found Eli Stowers for a 39-yard gain to set up a touchdown in the second half. That play marked the pair’s longest connection of the season through air yards, as most of Stowers’ big plays to that point came from catch-and-runs.
Beck made use of the kitchen sink in this matchup, using every tool at his disposal, from pre-snap motions to run-pass options to trick plays. He showed that, with the right and healthy personnel, he’s still the perfect play-caller to work with Pavia.
Vanderbilt’s kitchen sink didn’t just feature a more creative playbook — it featured a set of black-and-white cookies that inadvertently offered even more of an advantage: the referees.
Ignoring the referees’ impact on this game would be naive. Both sides made their fair share of mistakes, from minuscule pre-snap penalties like offsides and false starts to more macro mistakes like pass interferences and unnecessary roughnesses. But Vanderbilt was the beneficiary of more than a few officiating mistakes.
The fair-catch interference flag that got picked up crushed Georgia Tech’s momentum. Head coach Brent Key’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that came after a phantom pass interference call resulted in 30 yards of offense for Vanderbilt and turned a third-down stop into a touchdown.
The Commodores played well in this game and deserved the victory. To suggest that the refs gave them the win would be bordering on delusion, but the officials turned a hyper-competitive contest in the first half into a borderline blowout in the second.
Future flavors
I’ll let Pavia start us off here.
“If you want to win, come to Vandy. This is a new Vanderbilt team,” Pavia said postgame. “We’re hardhat, lunchpail. If you want to work, if you want to win championships and go and have a chance at the big dogs, come to Vandy and let’s see what you got.”
A lot goes into rebuilding a program. One individual is never going to change the culture in a locker room; it’s a top-down group effort from the head coach to his players. For Vanderbilt to get to the point it’s at right now, every person involved had to sacrifice blood, sweat and tears.
Nobody has sacrificed more than Lea, though.
I’ve had the absolute pleasure of watching him grow into a leadership role at his alma mater. Lea’s first game as head coach was my first game as a Vanderbilt student — no students have experienced the highs and lows of Lea’s Commodores more than the Class of 2025. I’ve watched Lea from press boxes, student sections and televisions over the past four years, and I can confidently say that he’s given everything he has to this program.
Does that look like your average football coach? How many head coaches would jump into the stands to celebrate with and hug a group of random fans? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — Lea bleeds black and gold, and nobody deserves this moment more than him.
“This is my school, it’s my home, it’s where I played, and so I’m proud of the fight that this program has shown,” Lea said. “[I’m proud of] the staff that stayed with us [and] the people that have stayed and believed in what we’re doing.”
Everyone picks up on those little moments, not just fans. High school and transfer recruits will see videos like the one above and realize that Vanderbilt is an attractive destination.
Vanderbilt already nabbed a class of 10 exciting transfers before this game, and that was after a three-game losing streak that ended the regular season. A win over a Power Four team at a reputable bowl site will do nothing but increase its chances of bringing in top-tier talent. Vanderbilt went out and built depth on both sides of the line of scrimmage, its secondary and pass catchers.
A few more experienced receivers, a game-changing running back and some more depth in the trenches will have Las Vegas setting Vanderbilt’s preseason win total a lot higher than 2.5 next year.
There’s no telling what the Black and Gold can do with Pavia and Lea at the helm of the program — oh, and a completely finished FirstBank Stadium — in 2025. The sky is truly the limit.
For the first time in a long time, there’s hope for Vanderbilt Football. Not cautiously optimistic hope, not unrealistic hope, but real, genuine hope.
2024 was special. 2025 has a chance to be historical. Until August, Commodore Nation.
