Vanderbilt fans celebrated the team’s stunning victory over No 1 Alabama by tearing down a goal post and carrying it through the streets of Nashville before dumping it in the Cumberland river.
Sedrick Alexander scored two touchdowns and Diego Pavia outplayed Heisman Trophy favorite Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt stunned Alabama 40-35 on Saturday for its first win over a top-5 ranked team in history.
It was the Commodores’ first win over the nation’s top-ranked team. FirstBank Stadium saw wild celebrations among Vanderbilt supporters, who stormed the field seconds after the final knee was taken.
Remarkable clips showed fans making the three-mile walk from Vanderbilt’s football stadium to Broadway, Nashville’s main strip of bars with a police escort.
Hundreds of Commodores students cheered as the yellow uprights and goal posts found their final destination underwater.
Vanderbilt students tore down a goal post after the Commodores defeated No 1 Alabama
The goal posts were taken from the stadium and across the city of Nashville for hours
Vanderbilt hadn’t beaten Alabama in 40 years, but they snapped a 23-game skid the week after the Crimson Tide knocked off then-second-ranked Georgia. No one outside of Nashville expected it on Saturday.
Alabama quickly trailed in the game 14-0 before the contest was seven minutes old. The Crimson Tide never led in the game.
Every counterpunch from Alabama made most think it was a valiant attempt from Vanderbilt to knock off the best team in America, but the Commodores always had an answer.
A Kamrean Johnson touchdown catch from Pavia, who was masterful in running the Vanderbilt offense all game long, was the likely nail in the coffin.
Even the more acclaimed Alabama roster could not compare, with Milroe held in check to only throw 24 passes in the game.
After the final snap was taken, Vanderbilt played a quote from former Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban on the jumbotron from his appearance last month on the Pat McAfee Show.
‘The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt,’ Saban said.
That message did not age well for his former team.
Vanderbilt had never defeated a top-five-ranked team before Saturday’s victory over Alabama
Diego Pavia celebrated the victory that will make him a Vanderbilt football legend forever
Cameras captured the goalposts being walked through the streets with a police escort
Milroe could not work up a major case of Crimson Tide magic for the second week running
The goal posts ended up in the Cumberland river after being walked down the Broadway strip
Current Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer now has a loss to Vanderbilt on his resume in his fifth game leading the Crimson Tide, which those in Tuscaloosa soon will not forget.
After a crazy day of college football, the loss does not completely diminish Alabama’s chances of winning the Southeastern Conference. However, it makes that road a lot more difficult.
And that’s all because of Vanderbilt, who put the anchor down in more ways than one.
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