Vanderbilt can claim football superiority over Alabama State.

The Commodores moved to 6-3 with a 17-7 win over Auburn on Saturday. It is the first time since 1955 that Vanderbilt has defeated both Auburn and Alabama in the same season. Earlier this year, Vanderbilt beat then-No. 1 Alabama 40-35 the week after the Crimson Tide's win over Georgia.

Saturday's game was tied 7-7 at halftime before Vanderbilt kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to take a 10-7 lead. The Commodores extended their lead to two points with 4:18 left when Eli Stowers caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Diego Pavia.

It's the second straight win for Pavia at Auburn. A season ago, Pavia was quarterback at New Mexico State when the Aggies defeated the Tigers 31-10 in the penultimate week of the regular season. Two years ago, Pavia led NMSU to a win over Liberty. The Flames' coach this season: Auburn's Hugh Freeze.

Vanderbilt's win over Alabama was the school's first win over the Crimson Tide since a 30-21 victory in 1984. Saturday's win over Auburn, a team that is now 1-5 in the SEC, is its first since In 2012, when Vanderbilt won 17-13. This was Vanderbilt's second straight win against the Tigers; A win in 2007 had ended Auburn's 13-game winning streak that dated back to Vanderbilt's victory in 1955.

In the years since those 1955 doubleheaders – Vanderbilt beat Alabama 21-6 and defeated Auburn 25-13 that season – the Commodores had played the Tigers and Crimson Tide 12 times in the same season. And in those 24 games, Vanderbilt went just 2-22.

The Commodores' sixth win of the season means they will be in a bowl game for the first time since 2018. Another win also guarantees Vanderbilt's first winning season since 2013, when the team went 9-4 in James Franklin's senior year in Nashville.