Vanderbilt fans celebrated the team’s stunning victory over No. 1 Alabama by tearing down a goalpost and carrying it through the streets of Nashville before dumping it into the Cumberland River.
Sedrick Alexander scored two touchdowns and Diego Pavia defeated Heisman Trophy favorite Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt stunned Alabama 40-35 on Saturday for the first victory over a top-5 ranked team in history.
It was the Commodores’ first win over the nation’s top-ranked team. At FirstBank Stadium, there were wild celebrations among the Vanderbilt fans, 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 goalposts found their final destination underwater.
Vanderbilt students took down a goalpost after the Commodores defeated No. 1 Alabama
The goalposts were removed from the stadium and throughout the city of Nashville for hours
Vanderbilt hadn’t beaten Alabama in four decades, but they snapped a 23-game skid the week after the Crimson Tide defeated then-second-ranked Georgia. No one outside of Nashville expected this on Saturday.
Alabama quickly fell behind 14-0 before the game was seven minutes old. The Crimson Tide never led in the game.
Every pushback from Alabama made most think it was a valiant effort by Vanderbilt to take down the best team in America, but the Commodores always had an answer.
A touchdown catch by Pavia’s Kamrean Johnson, who was masterful at running the Vanderbilt offense all game, was the likely nail in the coffin.
Even Alabama’s more touted squad couldn’t compare, holding Milroe in check and throwing just 24 passes in the game.
After the final photo 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 where it’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt,” Saban said.
That message did not go down well with his former team.
Vanderbilt had never beaten a top-five team before Saturday’s win over Alabama
Cameras captured the goalposts as they walked through the streets with a police escort
The goalposts ended up in the Cumberland River after crossing the Broadway strip
Current Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer now has a loss to Vanderbilt on his resume in his fifth game in charge of the Crimson Tide, which those in Tuscaloosa will not soon forget.
After a crazy day of college football, the loss doesn’t completely diminish Alabama’s chances of winning the Southeastern Conference. However, it makes that road a lot more difficult.
And it’s all because of Vanderbilt, who laid down the anchor in more ways than one.