During the course of Vanderbilt’s upset of No. 1 Alabama, Georgia fans were treated to highlights of the historic win on the Sanford Stadium scoreboard.
It was the Commodores’ first win in program history against a top 5-ranked team — now 1-60 — while the Tide fell to 64-4 while holding the No. 1 spot and facing an unranked team.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart walked into his postgame press conference, after defeating Auburn 31-13, mere seconds after the Vanderbilt-Alabama game was over.
“Nothing shocks me about our league, look at Texas A&M and Missouri,” Smart said. “Welcome to the SEC. It’s hard every week, and I have a feeling it’s not going to stop.”
Just one week ago, Alabama was concocting an upset of the Bulldogs, with a 28-0 lead at one point en route to a 41-34 victory.
First-year Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said he told his team at the start of the fourth quarter against Vanderbilt, when they were down 30-28, to “just keep playing …we’re moving the ball up and down the field, make every yard, every point hard, and worry about the next play.”
Vanderbilt, which had lost 23 straight in the series with the Tide, won 40-35.
To Smart’s point about SEC parity, six weeks into the season, three top 10 SEC teams have been beaten by unranked SEC opposition: Kentucky over then-No. 6 Ole Miss (20-17), Texas A&M over No. 9 Missouri (41-10) and then Vanderbilt over No. 1 Alabama.
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia became college football’s newest Cinderella story, having started his career at the New Mexico Military Institute (2021-22) before a two-year stint at New Mexico State (2022-23) led to a historic moment in SEC history.
Pavia outplayed Heisman Trophy favorite Jalen Milroe by completing 16 of 20 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns, also rushing for 56 yards.
Milroe fumbled and threw a costly interception returned for a touchdown in the first quarter that helped Vandy jump to a 13-0 lead. He finished 19-of-25 passing for 312 yards with a touchdown and rushed for 10 yards and a touchdown on seven carries.
“It’s all God’s timing, literally from the jump,” Pavia said excitedly in his postgame field interview. “God gave me a vision when I was a little kid …
I’m super thankful.”
Commodores coach Clark Lea, a former Vanderbilt player now 12-29 overall and 3-23 in SEC action in his fourth year leading the program, said more is ahead after winning as a 23.5-point underdog against Alabama.
“This isn’t a finish point, but it’s a hell of an arrival for tonight,” Lea said. “I love this university, I love this dream, let’s go get some more.
“This is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about, big wins on big stages, we’re going to go get some more.”
