Vanderbilt football upsets Alabama thanks to Clark Lea and Diego Pavia

Clark Lea managed to finish one sentence of his opening statement before he choked up.

He had just led Vanderbilt football to a 40-35 victory over Alabama, the first victory over an AP No. 1 team in school history. Not only had the Commodores never beaten a No. 1 team, they had never beaten a top-five team on the field.

“A great night for our program and one that we worked really hard to make happen. So we were emotional up to this point. Of course, as soon as I stand in front of you, I will get emotional.”

Under Lea, Jerry Kill and quarterback Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt had an “every Saturday” attitude. On Tuesday, Pavia said during the team's weekly press conference that only God knows who would win the game.

But that didn't require the work of the divine on Saturday. The Commodores played like the better team from the start and took a 13-0 lead just seven minutes after a touchdown drive and a pick-6. They never gave up the leadership.

Four different Vanderbilt players scored touchdowns, not including Pavia, who threw two touchdown passes. The Commodores forced two turnovers: the pick-6 and a fourth-quarter strip sack by Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. While penalties have been a problem all season, Vanderbilt only committed three penalties this time around.

Lea knows Vanderbilt. He is a Nashville native who played for the Commodores in the early 2000s. He took over the program in 2021 and in just one of his three years the team has even won an SEC game. Lea has never experienced anything like a Saturday in his time on the show.

Fans stormed the pitch. The students tore down the goalposts, took them to Broadway and finally threw them into the Cumberland River. The mayor posted the result on social media. The video board operators at FirstBank Stadium trolled Alabama by playing a video of Nick Saban saying Vanderbilt wasn't a difficult place to play. All while most of the stands were filled with Alabama fans.

“We expected to win this game,” Lea said. “That doesn’t shock me. You know, I would definitely be emotional because it's a big win and conquering that stadium… just an image in my head of what the dream is. That’s the dream.” . That's why I came here.

Pavia's problem is that he has no Division I offers out of high school in the transfer portal and no Power 4 offers other than Vanderbilt in the transfer portal, even after two successful seasons at New Mexico State. He never shies away from a challenge. He led the Aggies to a road win over Auburn a year ago and showed his relentless competitiveness back then. Now, after the games, he will talk about his desire to play in the NFL, go to the College Football Playoff and win a national title, even if no one else believes those things are possible.

Even outside the Vanderbilt locker room, few believed it was possible, but they did it.

“On Tuesday, (offensive lineman Steven Hubbard) came in and said some people were talking and said, 'If it's about beating Bama, get that (expletive) out of the way, I'm not trying to talk to you right now.' Pavia said. “Every single one stayed back and just had the same mentality.”

Ten months ago this didn't seem possible. There were long, hard days in December when Lea spent contemplating the future of his program after a 2-10 season. Dozens of players, including all three quarterbacks who took a snap, and several other starters have entered the transfer portal. Lea fired both coordinators, took over the defense himself, imported Kill and Tim Beck from New Mexico State and brought in a lot of transfers of his own. This wasn't how he envisioned this program being structured, but it was what needed to be done.

One of the biggest obstacles was getting rid of the loser mentality. In the past, Lea said, the team has played the victim after losses like the losses to Georgia State and Missouri earlier this season. But this time the team reacted differently.

As Vanderbilt prepared to get into victory formation toward the end of the game, Lea looked over and saw offensive line coach Chris Klenakis with a bleeding gash on his forehead. It was a physical representation of the blood, sweat and tears that everyone involved in the program put into that moment.

“There is a belief embedded and evident in what we do,” Lea said. “…The lesson here is to exploit an identity, exploit its strategy and continue to step into that belief.”

ESTES How did Vanderbilt football gain the respect of the country? By shocking AP #1 Alabama | Estes

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

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