60 straight top-5 losses? Vanderbilt's stunning Alabama upset by the numbers
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J.J. Post, ESPN
There’s nothing like college football.
Just one week after emerging victorious in one of the most thrilling college football games in recent memory, the Alabama Crimson Tide followed up their win over then-No. 2 Georgia with a loss … to the Vanderbilt Commodores, who entered the matchup with just two SEC wins to their name since the end of the 2019 season.
The result shocked the college football world and the general sports scene alike. Here are some of the most remarkable numbers behind the unbelievable upset:
1:
In addition to No. 1 being Alabama’s ranking, Saturday’s win represented a number of firsts for Vanderbilt. It was the school’s first ever win over a top-ranked program. It also marked the first time the Commodores scored more than 40 points in a game against a top-five opponent.
3:
Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is something of an upset specialist. Pavia entered the game tied with Eric Dungey (Syracuse) and Skylar Thompson (Kansas State) for the most wins by a quarterback in games where their team was a 21+ point underdog over the last 20 seasons with two. Both of Pavia’s prior wins came during his time at New Mexico State. He now adds one more such victory to his ledger, as Vanderbilt closed as a 22.5 point underdog at ESPN BET.
4:
Alabama becomes the fourth No. 1 team in the AP Poll era to lose a game to an unranked opponent the week after a win over a top-2 ranked opponent. Such a result hadn’t occurred since 1960, when the Minnesota Golden Gophers fell to the Purdue Boilermakers.
13:
Across four games against Alabama during Nick Saban’s tenure, Vanderbilt scored 13 points.
Total.
The Commodores scored 13 points in the first quarter of Saturday’s contest alone.
23:
Alabama had won 23 consecutive games on the field against Vanderbilt (in 1993 Alabama won but the win later flipped to Vanderbilt via forfeit due to NCAA violations against the Crimson Tide from that season) before Saturday’s upset, a streak dating back to 1984.
The matchup hadn’t even been decided by a one-score margin since 2006.
60:
Vanderbilt entered Saturday’s game with an 0-60 mark against AP top-5 opposition. Its 60 consecutive losses against those opponents was the longest such streak in the AP Poll era, dating back to 1936.
80:
Pavia finished Saturday 16-for-20, throwing for 252 yards and a pair of scores. His 80% completion rate was the highest mark by an opposing quarterback against the Crimson Tide since 2010 when Stephen Garcia finished with an 85% mark for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
ESPN Research contributed to this story
