NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Fans of the Vanderbilt Commodores danced onto the field, jumping up and down as they tore down a goal post, carried it out of the stadium and rang out sweet sounds of victory.
Their school's historic win over No. 1 Alabama deserved to be celebrated this way. Sedrick Alexander ran for two touchdowns, Randon Fontenette scored on a pick-six and Diego Pavia outplayed Heisman Trophy contender Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt stunned Alabama 40-35 on Saturday for the Commodores' first win over a top-ranked team.
Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1) was 0-60 all time versus AP top-five teams before Saturday, the longest such streak in the poll era (since 1936).
The Commodores hadn't beaten Alabama on the field in 40 years, but they snapped a 23-game skid by making big play after big play to give coach Clark Lea his alma mater's biggest win ever. «This is the dream, right here,» Lea said. «And for the next 12 hours, I'm going to enjoy the dream.