That’s not how Alabama envisioned following up its massive victory over Georgia.
The No. 1 Crimson Tide were shocked by Vanderbilt, 40-35, in Nashville on Saturday afternoon.
Diego Pavia threw for 252 yards and two touchdowns, while the Commodores’ Randon Fontenette had a pick-six of Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt jumped off to a 23-7 and then held on for the SEC upset.
“Vanderbilt f–king turnt,” an elated Pavia said after the game on the ESPN broadcast.
Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) had lost all 60 games against AP top-five teams in program history, according to SportRadar.
The Commodores hadn’t beaten Alabama on the field in 40 years, but they snapped a 23-game skid by making big play after big play to give coach Clark Lea his alma mater’s biggest win ever.
“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.”
Warning: Graphic Language
Alabama had just moved to the top of the AP Top 25 after an emotional 41-34 win over Georgia.
Alexander capped the game’s opening drive with a seven-yard TD to put Vandy ahead to stay.
It marked the first time since 2007 that Vandy had opened a game against Alabama with a TD — Nick Saban’s second game as coach.
“We’re going to find out really how much we care about each other and what it looks like moving forward,” Alabama coach Kalen 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.”
The Tide (4-1, 1-1) helped Vanderbilt pad that lead with too many mistakes, sloppy play and penalties.
Alabama got within 30-28 with Milroe’s 58-yard TD pass to Ryan Williams.
Vanderbilt answered with 10 points.
Of their total, 13 came off Milroe’s two turnovers, the second a strip sack by Miles Capers recovered by Yilanan Ouattara at midfield for Vanderbilt.
Pavia capped the drive with a six-yard TD pass to Alabama native Kamrean Johnson with 5:07 left for a 40-28 lead.
Milroe tried to rally Alabama, with Williams scoring on an end around on fourth-and-1 from 2 yards out with 2:46 left.
Vanderbilt fans and players started celebrating as Pavia knelt down to run out the clock.
Milroe had his second pass of the game tipped into the air by De’rickey Wright, who committed to Alabama and wound up at Vanderbilt.
Fontenette grabbed the ball and ran 24 yards to the end zone for the pick-six and a 13-0 lead at 8:03 of the first quarter.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 23-7 lead, just the second time in the last 10 seasons that a No. 1 team trailed an unranked opponent by 16 or more points.
Clemson trailed by 18 to Boston College in 2020 and won 30-28.
Alabama didn’t come back in this game.
Vanderbilt never trailed as the Commodores played keep-away, holding the ball for just over 42 minutes. Alabama had a 312-252 yardage advantage on offense.
It didn’t matter.
The Commodores got help from Alabama to keep a 17-play drive that used up 9:50 of the clock with a pair of penalties. The Tide, with 17-year-old phenom Williams back to field the punt, also had another player on the field with the same No. 2 to give Vandy a first down.
On third down, Alabama linebacker Que Robinson hit Pavia and drew a flag for roughing that Tide fans hated. Five plays later, Alexander scored from a yard out to put Vandy up 20-7.
Brock Taylor put Vandy up 23-7 with a 51-yard field goal with 4:10 left in the first half.
— With AP
