Diego Pavia: 'We knew what we could do' vs. Alabama

Vanderbilt hadn’t beaten Alabama this century. The Commodores were outscored, 148-3, in their previous three games against the Crimson Tide, who entered this past week coming off a thrilling win over Georgia that made them the SEC favorite and a serious national title contender.

Alabama was ranked No. 1. Vanderbilt hasn’t been ranked in over a decade.

The SEC’s premier program invaded FirstBank Stadium, the 39,790-seat home site of the SEC’s perennial bottom dweller, Vanderbilt, and left with an embarrassing 40-35 defeat.

Diego Pavia swapped a slingshot for a fearless arm and played the role of David, taking the necessary shots to slay Goliath, as his Commodores shocked the Crimson Tide and the college football world.

“I feel like just the outside is shocked, but, internally, we knew what we could do,” Pavia said postgame. “We feel like any week that we focus on ourselves, Vanderbilt football can only beat Vanderbilt football, and that’s the reality of it. But Alabama’s a great team, and we just played better tonight.

“That’s how the SEC is. It’s any given Saturday. You guys see it every single day. And so this is what it is.”

Pavia outdueled Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Jalen Milroe, throwing for 252 yards and two touchdowns while completing 16-of-20 passes, not to mention the New Mexico graduate transfer’s additional 56 yards on the ground.

The Commodores staked themselves to a 23-7 lead, in large part thanks to a pick-six from linebacker Randon Fontenette and two touchdowns from running back Sedrick Alexander. They held on the rest of the way, despite a Crimson Tide comeback bid that saw them pull within one score of Vanderbilt twice in the second half.

Vandy had never defeated an AP-ranked top-five team, according to SportRadar. The Commodores were 0-60 in those games, the most losses without a win of that caliber in NCAA history.

What transpired Saturday in Nashville was monumental for the program, and for head coach Clark Lea, who is in his fourth year at the helm after coming over from Notre Dame, where he was the defensive coordinator for three seasons.

“A lot of people don’t understand, but Coach Lea has been trying to flip it for so long, and you can tell that he’s hurt inside because no one has really went behind him,” Pavia said. “When he gets someone to push behind, and I feel like that’s the whole team — we’re all around him, we’re behind him — he leads the way, and we just attack it, what he has planned for us.”

Vanderbilt is now 3-2, including 1-1 in SEC play. The Commodores easily could be 5-0 and undefeated in conference competition. They dropped a double-overtime game to Missouri on Sept. 21 and stomached a dramatic, four-point defeat to Georgia State the week before that.

Lea’s squad caught the nation’s attention when it upset Virginia Tech in overtime, 34-27, to kick off the 2024 campaign. Vanderbilt already has more victories than it did during its two-win effort last season.

Pavia has played a significant role in that turnaround.

“I love Vandy,” he said. “This is what I came here for, I came here to win big football games. Our ultimate goal is to go the College Football Playoff, and, so, we wanted a chance at the national championship, just how everyone else does.

“This is just a step in the way, and we just got to keep getting better. There’s still little mistakes out there that we got to clean up. But any given Saturday, anything’s possible.”