Vanderbilt just won the state of Alabama.
A month after shocking the Crimson Tide 40-35, the Commodores took down Auburn 17-7 on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Diego Pavia threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a 4-yarder to Eli Stowers with 4:18 left, and Vanderbilt became bowl eligible for the first time since 2018.
Vanderbilt offensive lineman Steve Hubbard had a message after the game for all those Auburn players and fans within earshot.
He up 3-0,” he said of Pavia. “This same field. This last city. He beat that (a-word). He came in here and beat that (a-word). … Take your (a-word) home.”
Pavia was contained much of the way but still delivered a second straight win over Auburn. He completed 9 of 22 passes for 143 yards with a 28-yard touchdown to AJ Newberry. Pavia led New Mexico State to a huge upset of the Tigers last season before transferring to the SEC and helping produce a much less surprising victory.
He also beat a Freeze-led Liberty team before that, which – we assume – is where the 3-0 reference comes from.
Vandy (6-3, 3-2 SEC) was winless in eight SEC games last season, ending on a 10-game skid. Then came Pavia, Stowers and other key newcomers who helped produce a Sprite-splashing celebration postgame.
The Tigers (3-6, 1-5), meanwhile, fell one loss away from their fourth straight losing season.
Pavia, meanwhile, got to once beat one of the teams that wasn’t interested in recruiting him.
“A lot of people didn’t take a chance on me,” he said on the field after the game. “They’re just another team that didn’t so I just want to make them pay for what they did.”
Prior to the game Saturday, Pavia posted what seemed to be a message towards Auburn on his Instagram story. The post was a screenshot of lyrics from the song “Heyy” by Lil Baby, with the line, “They thought I got lucky last time” highlighted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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