2024 Alabama vs. Vanderbilt football game

Alabama vs. Vanderbilt, 2024
Conference game
FirstBank Stadium (formerly Vanderbilt Stadium) on October 5, 2024.
Alabama Crimson Tide Vanderbilt Commodores
(4–0) (2–2)
SEC SEC
35 40
Head coach: 
Kalen DeBoer		 Head coach: 
Clark Lea
APCoaches
12
APCoaches
NRNR
1234 Total
Alabama 77147 35
Vanderbilt 1310710 40
DateOctober 5, 2024[1]
Season2024
StadiumFirstBank Stadium[1]
LocationNashville, Tennessee[1]
FavoriteAlabama by 23.5[2]
RefereeLee Hendrick
Attendance28,934[1]
United States TV coverage
NetworkSEC Network[1]
AnnouncersTom Hart, Cole Cubelic, and Alyssa Lang

The 2024 Alabama vs. Vanderbilt football game was a regular season college football game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and Alabama Crimson Tide, played at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 5, 2024. Going into the game, the undefeated 4–0 Crimson Tide was ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll following a win against the then No. 2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs, and led Vanderbilt 63–18–4 in their series. At the game's conclusion, it was immediately hailed by media outlets and fans as one of the sport's biggest upsets in recent history due to it representing Vanderbilt's first victory against Alabama in 40 years, drawing comparisons to prior upsets such as the 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan game.[3][4]

The significance of the upset was represented by the victory being Vanderbilt's first win over an AP top-ranked football program in its history,[5] the breaking of its 23-game losing streak against Alabama beginning in 1984, and winning its first game against a Associated Press-ranked top-5 opponent to break a 60-game losing streak, the longest of any team since the beginning of the AP poll era in 1936.[5] The game also marked the first time since 1996 since Alabama gave up more than 20 points in a single game to Vanderbilt, with the 40 points they gave up being the most against Vanderbilt since 1906.[6]

Due to these factors, several news outlets and publications declared the game "historic",[7][8][9][10] and called it the biggest and most significant in the history of Vanderbilt's football program,[11][12] as well as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, upsets in Southeastern Conference (SEC) and in overall college football history.[2][13][14][15]

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Biggest college football upset ever? How Vanderbilt's massive win vs. Alabama ranks". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  3. ^ "Biggest Upsets in College Football History: Does Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt Knocking Off Alabama Crack the List?". collegefootballnetwork.com. 2024-10-05. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  4. ^ "Vanderbilt Hero Diego Pavia Had NSFW Four-Word Message After Alabama Upset". SI. 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Coach Clark Lea promises Vanderbilt's historic win over No. 1 Alabama is only the start". AP News. 2024-10-05. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  8. ^ "Vanderbilt upsets No. 1 Alabama 40–35 in historic college football win". NBC News. 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  9. ^ Smith III, Kennington; Rexrode, Joe. "No. 1 Alabama upset by Vanderbilt: Are the Tide in Playoff trouble after historic loss?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  10. ^ "Vandy upsets Bama for first win vs. No. 1 team". ESPN.com. 2024-10-05. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  11. ^ Lev, Jacob (2024-10-06). "Vanderbilt stuns Alabama to secure biggest win in program history". CNN. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  12. ^ Hayes, Matt. "The beautiful crazy of Vanderbilt's upset of Alabama is as unreal as it is unexplainable". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  13. ^ "Alabama falls at Vanderbilt: National reaction as No. 1 Crimson Tide goes down". CFB-HQ On SI. 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  14. ^ "Vanderbilt knocks off No. 1 Alabama in stunner: One of the biggest upsets in SEC college football history". CBSSports.com. 2024-10-06. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
  15. ^ "Vanderbilt upsets No. 1 Alabama in first-ever win over top 5 team, Arkansas stuns No. 4 Tennessee in Week 6 | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2024-10-06.