Vanderbilt tops No. 1 Alabama in historic upset
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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.
Then they toted the goal post just over a couple miles and tossed it into the Cumberland River.
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 candidate Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt stunned Alabama 40-35 on Saturday for the Commodores' first win over the nation's top-ranked team.
Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) had lost all 60 games against AP top-five teams, according to SportRadar. The Commodores hadn't beaten Alabama on the field in 40 years, but they snapped a 23-game skid 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. We've got more ahead of us, but this is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about: Big wins on big stages. We're going to go get some more."
The Commodores scored the first 13 points and took a 16-point lead that was their largest ever over the No. 1 team in the country. Only Jam Miller running for his second TD just before halftime trimmed that to 23-14.
Alabama had just moved to the top of the AP Top 25 last week after a win over then-No. 2 Georgia.
NO. 3 OHIO STATE 35, IOWA 7: Emeka Egbuka caught three touchdown passes and Jeremiah Smith made another one-handed grab for a score as Ohio State sputtered early before burying Iowa. Buckeyes QB Will Howard was 21 for 25 for 209 yards passing and four touchdowns.
ARKANSAS 19, NO. 4 TENNESSEE 14: Malachi Singleton scored on an 11-yard run with 1:17 remaining to lift Arkansas to the upset. The Razorbacks overcame a 14-3 third-quarter deficit to notch their first home win over a top-five opponent since beating the No. 3 Volunteers in 1999.
NO. 5 GEORGIA 31, AUBURN 13: Trevor Etienne ran for two touchdowns as No. 5 Georgia bounced back by defeating Auburn. Etienne scored on a 2-yard run to cap Georgia's opening possession. Carson Beck threw a pair of scoring passes for the Bulldogs.
NO. 8 MIAMI 39, CAL 38: Cam Ward threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left and No. 8 Miami roared back from a 25-point deficit in the second half. Ward led four straight touchdown drives to spoil a monumental day for the Golden Bears.
NO. 25 TEXAS A&M 41, NO. 9 MISSOURI 10: Le'Veon Moss ran for a career-high 138 yards with three TDs as No. 25 Texas A&M handed ninth-ranked Missouri its first loss. Texas A&M was up 24-0 at halftime and padded the lead when Moss ran 75 yards for a score in the third quarter.
WASHINGTON 27, NO. 10 MICHIGAN 17: Will Rogers threw for 271 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns, Jonah Coleman's 1-yard TD with 6:22 left gave Washington the lead, and the Huskies gained revenge, toppling No. 10 Michigan in a rematch of last season's championship game. The loss snapped Michigan's 24-game Big Ten regular season win streak.
NO. 12 OLE MISS 27, SOUTH CAROLINA 3: Big man JJ Pegues, a 325-pound nose tackle, ran for two short touchdowns as No. 12 Mississippi bounced back from its first loss of the season last week to beat South Carolina and give coach Lane Kiffin his 100th career victory.
NO. 15 CLEMSON 29, FLORIDA STATE 13: Cade Klubnik had 235 passing yards and threw touchdown passes to Antonio Williams and T.J. Moore as No. 15 Clemson cruised past Florida State. Phil Mafah ran for 136 yards for the Tigers as coach Dabo Swinney picked up his 174th win, breaking the ACC record held by Florida State's Bobby Bowden.
NO. 16 IOWA STATE 43,
BAYLOR 21: Rocco Becht threw for 277 yards and two touchdown to lead No. 16 Iowa State over Baylor. The Cyclones wiped out an early deficit and another in the third quarter and are off to their best start since 1980. Baylor lost its third straight game.
NO. 21 BOISE STATE 62, UTAH STATE 30: Ashton Jeanty ran for 186 yards and three touchdowns on 13 first-half carries, Maddux Madsen passed for 256 yards and three TDs and No. 21 Boise State outgunned Utah State. Jeanty became only the eighth FBS running back since 1996 to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing five games into a season.
SMU 34, NO. 22 LOUISVILLE 27: Kevin Jennings passed and rushed for career highs, Isaiah Nwokobia intercepted an end-zone pass with 2:23 left to seal it, and SMU overcame blowing a double-digit lead to beat No. 22 Louisville. Jennings threw for 281 yards and rushed for 113 yards.
NO. 23 INDIANA 41, NORTHWESTERN 24: Kurtis Rourke threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns to help No. 23 Indiana stay unbeaten with a victory over Northwestern. The Hoosiers also had 158 yards on the ground with Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton each scored a TD as the Hoosiers matched the 1967 squad's 6-0 start, best in school history.