On Oct. 5, Vanderbilt captured the attention of the entire college football landscape.
As 22-point underdogs that day in Nashville, Vandy stunned No. 1-ranked Alabama in a 40-35 victory. It was Vanderbilt’s first win in program history against a team ranked atop the national polls — and its first win over a team ranked inside the top five.
The triumph was all that more stunning considering the Commodores hadn’t beaten the Crimson Tide since 1993, were on a two-game losing streak after losses at Georgia State and Missouri, respectively, and had gone 2-10 (with a 10-game losing streak) the year prior — a season which forced some overhaul with the program’s roster and coaching staff.
But that win changed everything. It started a three-game winning streak which then put the Dores in position to become bowl eligible going into November. A 17-7 victory at Auburn on Nov. 2 clinched that benchmark for coach Clark Lea’s team which last played in a postseason game in 2018.
Vanderbilt now faces Georgia Tech (7-5) on Dec. 27 in the Birmingham Bowl.
“This is a legacy game for this team — a chance for the first bowl win, first winning season, since 2013,” Lea said Sunday. “This is the 10th bowl game in 134 years of our program, which is a statement in and of itself. But again, the chance to finish with a winning season will be huge.”
Lea is finishing his fourth season at the helm of his alma mater. He played fullback for the Commodores under coach Bobby Johnson and then rose through the college football coaching ranks before becoming defensive coordinator at Notre Dame.
His return to Nashville had been anything but smooth until the current season — Vandy had gone 9-27 through Lea’s first three campaigns. The 2024 results have reignited a long-suffering fan base eager to celebrate a 13th game.
“I expect Vanderbilt fans to show up and, not just to celebrate the year that was and all the things, all the investment, sacrifice this team made to get us to this point, but also to look forward to what’s to come,” Lea said. “That’s the opportunity of a bowl game — you have a chance to celebrate the year that we had, but also to really prepare to launch forward into what’s next. I’ll be excited to have Commodore Nation there alongside us.”
On the field, Vandy’s catalyst is quarterback Diego Pavia. The senior has only completed 59.2% of his passes but has also only thrown four picks in 277 throws. Pavia has totaled 2,133 yards passing and 17 touchdowns and is also the team’s leading rusher with 716 yards and four scores on the ground.
The Commodores had one of the SEC’s best red zone offenses and ranked near the top of the conference in time of possession, sacks allowed, tackles for loss allowed and turnover margin.
A trio of linebackers — Bryan Longwell, Langston Patterson and Randon Fontenette — lead VU in tackles. The Commodores as a whole, however, were one of the SEC’s worst in third down defense, first downs allowed, passing defense, red zone defense, passing efficiency defense, total defense and sacks.
Masking those deficiencies while searching for ways to exploit the Yellow Jackets, Lea said, will be the key to the Birmingham Bowl outcome.
“Let’s focus on us. Let’s develop. Let’s have fun playing. Let’s get back to our systems. Let’s reteach and reinstall some of the things that we want to get better at,” Lea said. “As a staff, let’s take time on our self-scout and say, ‘Hey, what do we do well? What are the things we want to work on here as we get to bowl prep?’ By the time we’re creating this game plan, we have both the awareness of the year that has been and also enough awareness of the opponent to say, ‘These are the things we do well. This is how we best attack them.’ That gives us the best chance to win the game.”
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