A week after defeating Georgia, Alabama lost what may go down as the biggest upset of the year, as Vanderbilt defeated the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide 40-35 at FirstBank Stadium Saturday afternoon. To point out, this was the first time the Commodores defeated a top-5 team in school history, as they were previously 0-60.
In view of this SEC matchup, just a couple weeks ago on the Pat McAfee Show, former Alabama coach Nick Saban took a shot at Vanderbilt.
"The only place you play in the SEC that's not hard to play in Vanderbilt," Saban said. "You have more fans than they have. That's no disrespect to them. It's the truth."
Nick Saban 3 weeks ago:
"The only place you play in the SEC that's not hard to play is Vanderbilt.”
😬😬😬
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) October 5, 2024
With this in mind, Saban wasn't necessarily wrong as Crimson Tide fans appeared to outnumber the home team supporters. Nevertheless, saying this before losing to an unranked team as the No. 1 team in the country, is not a good look, and Vanderbilt certainly kept receipts.
That is to say, while Vanderbilt fans were rushing the field and taking down the goal posts, the stadium was playing the video recording of Saban's words, which drew huge cheers from the fans in Nashville.
Vanderbilt fans rush the field as the video board plays the clip of Nick Saban on game day calling FirstBank Stadium an easy place to play pic.twitter.com/uiTRy5cE4Y
— Matt Stahl (@mattstahl97) October 6, 2024
Down go the goal posts in Vanderbilt😳 pic.twitter.com/i0TNuIW3EF
— TheJP (@TheJP__2) October 6, 2024
All in all, it was not a fluke win, as Vanderbilt dominated all game from start to finish. To emphasize, this was the first game since 2019, that Alabama trailed the entire 60 minutes.
What a postgame interview by Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia pic.twitter.com/2kdROfd0Qu
— NMD Grant (@NMDgrant) October 5, 2024
What makes this loss so surprising is that during Saban's tenure as head coach, Alabama outscored Vanderbilt 172-13 in four matchups.
Alabama points allowed to Vanderbilt
4 games Under Nick Saban: 13
1 game Under Kalen Deboer: 40 pic.twitter.com/htogoIwlHn— Barstool Gambling (@stoolgambling) October 5, 2024
As a result of Vanderbilt pulling off the shocker of the season, the college football rankings will be shaken up once again, with Texas (5-0) or Ohio State (5-0) moving up to the coveted No. 1 spot.
MY SCHOOL VANDERBILT JUST PULLED OFF THE GREATEST UPSET I'VE EVERY ROOTED FOR IN MY LIFETIME: VANDERBILT 40, NO. 1 ALABAMA 35. THANK YOU, DIEGO PAVIA. THANK YOU, CLARK LEA. THANK YOU, COMMODORES FOOTBALL TEAM. #ANCHORDOWN
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 5, 2024
Vanderbilt Students are taking the goal post to BROADWAY.
What a moment for the Commodores. pic.twitter.com/nzAB4hJkQt
— Aiden Rutman (@RutmanAiden) October 6, 2024
The Vanderbilt goalpost has completed its destination to the Cumberland River.
This upset will be remembered for the rest of our lives. pic.twitter.com/So3JrmC446
— IG: NFLPreme (@premefootball) October 6, 2024
Related: Fans Tear Down Uprights, March It Down Broadway After Vanderbilt Dethrones No. 1 Alabama
