As I drove around the Edgehill area on the night of October 5, I could tell the mood across the city was different. It was around 7:30 pm, and you could end up in an hour’s traffic with one wrong turn. Some people’s faces beamed with excitement, while others displayed sheer horror. A lifted gray Ford truck sped past, blaring “Elvira” by The Oak Ridge Boys, one of the anthems of Nashville. All around, I could hear people screaming, “Anchor Down!”
One of the greatest upsets in college football history had just been pulled off as the Vanderbilt Commodores, or the “laughingstock of the SEC,” had impossibly defeated the number one ranked Alabama Crimson Tide.
USN and Vanderbilt have always had a close relationship. Every year, many USN graduates go on to attend Vanderbilt, and many USN parents work at the institution.
“Honestly, I didn’t think a Vandy win was possible,” said Lucy Cramer, ‘24, a freshman at Vanderbilt University.
Cramer remarked that although the student section was covered in black and gold, the rest of the stadium was a sea of crimson.
“I was still excited to see some football, especially with Alabama, whose football legacy is crazy despite growing up and still to this day hating the Alabama team,” said Cramer.
After legendary Head Coach Nick Saban retired from coaching football after 17 remarkable seasons and six national championships at Tuscaloosa, Alabama is under new football leadership. He was replaced by Kalen DeBoer, who led the University of Washington to the 2024 National Championship game before falling to Michigan 34-13.
Any coach stepping into a program with as much merit as Alabama would have extremely high expectations and pressure placed on them, and up until the Vanderbilt game, Deboer had been doing a fantastic job. The week prior, Alabama had upset their SEC rivals, the Georgia Bulldogs, who were then ranked first. This was a massive win for Alabama, and many analysts began seeing them as serious favorites to become the national champions. Although it can be easy to blame the upset on Alabama not seeing Vanderbilt as a serious opponent, the Crimson Tide were well aware of the history of high-ranked teams losing to unranked teams, especially after coming off of a big win. In preparation, they placed numerous rat traps around their facilities to remind their players to stay dialed and not let Vanderbilt catch them off guard.
On the other hand, Vanderbilt’s coach, Clark Lea, is a Nashville native currently in his fourth season as the Commodores head coach. His results up until now have been subpar but close to what most people expect of Vanderbilt. In 2021, Vanderbilt finished with a record of 2-10, then proceeded to go 5-7 in 2022 and 2-10 again in 2023. This win over Alabama is his most significant accomplishment as Head Coach, but it also shows signs that the Commodores have a strong team and they can do great things. It takes much more than luck to pull off an upset this huge.
Jack Wellons ‘24 is a freshman at Washington University in St. Louis but was back in Nashville for Fall Break to witness the historic upset.
Wellons had so little faith in the Commodores that he did not even attend the first half of the game.
“I drove over as soon as I heard the game was close,” said Wellons.
As the clock hit zero and Vanderbilt had sealed the victory, Vanderbilt fans rushed onto the field in triumph. This act forced the Commodores to pay a 100,000 dollar fine to Alabama.
Wellons was among the countless fans who found their way onto the turf.
“Vanderbilt players were celebrating with students, the team and the fans were celebrating together in a big group,” recounted Wellons.
The Vanderbilt fans tore down the yellow goalpost in the home endzone, traveled almost 3 miles, paraded it down to Broadway, and dumped it into the Cumberland River (Somewhat inspired by the Tennesee Volunteers’ upset win over Alabama last year).
“While the videos show the field goal posts going down super quick, it actually took a good five minutes of people pulling on it until it was taken down…it was just a sea of black and gold celebrating,” explained Cramer.
“I was part of the group that carried the goalpost through Broadway. We lifted it over police cars and through the streets of Nashville. Once we got downtown, people on the streets began cheering and chanting with us,” said Wellons.
Later, the goalpost was lifted out of the Cumberland, sawed into pieces, and sold as a fundraiser by Vanderbilt. They sold four-inch pieces for $1,005 and eight-inch pieces for $4,035. Both sizes sold out rapidly.
Cramer said that she has noticed a change in the overall mood on campus since the victory.
“Just about everyone is talking about this win. Everyone is just happy. It was a joint experience that brought everyone together in this win that was so unexpected. One of the classes actually canceled a quiz and gave everyone a one hundred in this Vandy spirit,” said Cramer.
In the two games following the upset, the Commodores have beaten Kentucky 20-13 on October 12 and Ball State 24-14 on October 19, giving them the 25th position on the AP Top 25 Poll. This was the first time that Vanderbilt had been placed in the top 25 since 2013.
However, on October 27, Vanderbilt faced number 5-ranked Texas and fell just short by a score of 27-24. This performance is still impressive, considering Texas has been one of the best teams in the country this year, and it helps prove that the win over Alabama was not entirely a fluke.
Although the Commodores could not pull off the win over Texas, which most likely would’ve put them in the top 15 on the AP poll, with plenty of the season left to go, Vanderbilt has a serious shot at landing a spot in a high-level bowl game.
