Vanderbilt fans celebrated wildly after their team beat No. 1 Alabama, joyfully dancing on the field and tearing down a goal post. They carried it a couple of miles to toss it into the Cumberland River, marking their school’s historic victory.
Sedrick Alexander scored two touchdowns, and Randon Fontenette added a touchdown with a pick-six. Diego Pavia outperformed Heisman candidate Jalen Milroe, leading Vanderbilt to a stunning 40-35 win, which was their first victory against the top-ranked team.
Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) had lost all 60 previous games against top-five teams. They hadn’t beaten Alabama in 40 years, but they ended a 23-game losing streak, giving coach Clark Lea the biggest win in the school’s history.
“This is the dream, right here,” Lea said. “And for the next 12 hours, I’m going to enjoy the dream. We’ve got more ahead of us, but this is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about: Big wins on big stages. We’re going to go get some more.”
The Commodores started strong, scoring the first 13 points and taking a 16-point lead, which was their largest ever against a No. 1 team. Alabama’s Jam Miller scored just before halftime, cutting the lead to 23-14.
Alabama had recently climbed to the top of the AP Top 25 after beating then-No. 2 Georgia, but they will have to regroup. First-year coach Kalen DeBoer said the team needs to work hard to improve.
“We’re going to find out really how much we care about each other and what it looks like moving forward,” DeBoer said. “We’ve been tested in different ways really a lot of the games here this season, and this is a different type of test now in our response.”
Alexander scored the first touchdown of the game, giving Vanderbilt the lead. This was the first time since 2007 that Vanderbilt had scored a touchdown against Alabama to start a game, back when Nick Saban was in just his second game as the coach.
The Tide (4-1, 1-1) allowed Vanderbilt to increase their lead with several mistakes, poor play, and penalties.
Alabama closed the gap to 30-28 when Milroe threw a 58-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Williams.
Vanderbilt responded by scoring 10 points, with 13 of their total points coming from Milroe’s two turnovers. The second turnover was a strip sack by Miles Capers, which Yilanan Ouattara recovered at midfield.
Pavia finished the drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Alabama native Kamrean Johnson, extending the lead to 40-28 with 5:07 left. Milroe attempted to bring Alabama back, with Williams scoring on a fourth-and-1 play from 2 yards out with 2:46 remaining.
Vanderbilt fans and players began celebrating as Pavia knelt to run out the clock. “Games like this change your life,” Pavia said.
Milroe had his second pass of the game deflected by De’Rickey Wright, who had committed to Alabama before transferring to Vanderbilt. Fontenette caught the ball and ran 24 yards for a pick-six, giving Vanderbilt a 13-0 lead at 8:03 in the first quarter.
Vanderbilt jumped to a 23-7 lead, marking just the second time in the last 10 years that a No. 1 team trailed an unranked team by 16 or more points.
The Commodores never fell behind, controlling the game and holding the ball for over 42 minutes. Although Alabama outgained them 312 to 252 yards, Vanderbilt succeeded on 12 of 18 third downs, wearing down the Tide defense.
Alabama linebacker Deontae Lawson stated it’s still early in the season, and everything is still ahead for the Tide. “We never want to feel this again,” Lawson said.
