How did Vanderbilt football win country's respect? By shocking AP No. 1 Alabama

How did Vanderbilt football win country’s respect? By shocking AP No. 1 Alabama | Estes

Posted by author October 6, 2024 Football

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Aww, they’ve been saying, would you look at Vandy. Out here beating Virginia Tech. Taking Missouri to overtime. They’ve been doing soooo well, these Commodores. Trying soooo hard. Good for them.

Snicker.

Not so cute anymore, are they?

The patronizing stops now, along with any doubts about what Clark Lea is doing on West End. As of Saturday afternoon, little ol’ Vanderbilt ceased being a fun little overachiever. Turns out, this is a real SEC team. A big-boy SEC team. A scary SEC team capable of knocking off the AP poll No. 1 team in the country and the biggest brand in college football.

Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35.

Gracious, can you believe it?

If so, how?

Stunning doesn’t begin to explain what was probably the biggest win ever for Vanderbilt and one of the biggest upsets in SEC history.

Alabama just beat Georgia in an instant classic. Then a week later at FirstBank Stadium, this befalls the program that Nick Saban that used to coach? Pity Kalen DeBoer for how this one will go over back home.

The Commodores, fresh off an open date, never trailed. They jumped to a 13-0 lead while the flat Crimson Tide showed up hung over from last week, expecting to thump Vanderbilt like Alabama always does. The last three meetings? They went 148-3 in Alabama’s favor.

According to the Associated Press (via a stat from Sportradar), Vanderbilt had been 0-60 all-time against opponents ranked in the AP’s top five.

But this was very different.

More: Vanderbilt football vs Alabama score prediction, scouting report for Week 6

Started out as a bona fide fight, and it stayed that way, taking on the form of sports’ truly big upsets. Once the aura of invincibility fades off the favorite, they feel the pressure. The gritty underdog believes what might be possible, and it all grows more tangible.

Meanwhile, heroes everywhere for the Commodores. None bigger than quarterback Diego Pavia, who might be the most fun player to watch in college football. Pavia kept making critical plays and throws, leading an offense that dropped a 40-spot on … checks the scoreboard again to make sure … Alabama.

Lea’s defense was opportunistic, start to finish, getting a key turnover to extend the lead to 12 points in the fourth quarter. And Vanderbilt played like a confident group with absolutely nothing to lose.

If a stadium full of Alabama fans didn’t grasp the seriousness of that setup at first, they would soon enough. Vanderbilt scored on six of its first eight possessions. It held the football for about 20 minutes of game clock in the first half.

Vanderbilt stood up relentlessly to Alabama, taking punches as the Crimson Tide inevitably scrambled to get back in the game.

An incredibly sweet moment for Vanderbilt football.

Let’s toss a little respect their way for once.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.