Former Notre Dame Football Assistant Scores Upset of the Year

One week after knocking off Georgia, No. 1 Alabama fell at Vanderbilt

Oct 5, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea screams at wide receiver Quincy Skinner Jr. (3) against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea left the Fighting Irish to take the head coaching job at his alma mater Vanderbilt following the 2020 season.

On Saturday, Lea led Vanderbilt to perhaps its biggest victory in program history as the Commodores shocked No. 1 Alabama 40-35 in Nashville.

Alabama Stunned by Vanderbilt in Nashville

Earlier in the week, a short video surfaced online of the Vanderbilt scoreboard showing stats of the Commodores and Crimson Tide with the numbers favoring the home underdogs.

On Saturday, those stats were far more lopsided in Vanderbilt's favor than one could have ever imagined.

Beyond a 40-35 final score, Vanderbilt held the ball for 42:08 of the 60-minute contest, and outrushed mighty Alabama 166-84.

Not bad for a Vanderbilt program that had combined to score just 13 points against Alabama during the entire Nick Saban regime.

Twitter/X Reacts to Vanderbilt's Massive Upset of Alabama

During the upset push and as soon as the game went final, social media erupted with reaction to Vanderbilt's historic upset. Below are some of the best tweets following the game, including some from former Notre Dame players giving a nod to their old defensive coordinator.

Vanderbilt Football Twitter Account

SHOCK. THE. WORLD

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 5, 2024

Down Goes No. 1 Alabama!

DORES DUB pic.twitter.com/HOgR9mGRK3

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 5, 2024

Clark Lea Comes Through for Vanderbilt

BE (LEA) VE pic.twitter.com/yRKuO2yuVC

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 5, 2024

ESPN

A NEW MUSIC CITY MIRACLE!

VANDY STUNS NO. 1 ALABAMA FOR ITS FIRST TOP-5 WIN IN SCHOOL HISTORY 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4RSMoAUTvk

— ESPN (@espn) October 5, 2024

College Football Reddit

Vandy student section was like pic.twitter.com/JTIAXjsFn8

— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) October 5, 2024

Field Storming Worthy

VANDY STORMS THE FIELD!

THEY BEAT NUMBER ONE ALABAMA pic.twitter.com/n55zVHWxiw

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 5, 2024

Pat McAfee Reacts

WOWWWWWW

VANDY BEATS BAMA

DAHN GOES THE NUMBER 1 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 5, 2024

Vandy Fans Talkin' that Smack

Vandy fans yelling "scoreboard" for the first time in program history pic.twitter.com/puhvx5fGXv

— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) October 5, 2024

Vandy Ain't Scared

“Alabama is the clear number one team in the country after beating Georgia last week”

Vandy: pic.twitter.com/CKEV5fh60Q

— Dylan Holt (@DylanHolt_) October 5, 2024

No Such Thing as a Dull Saturday

Shoutout to all my guys dialed in to Alabama Vandy on their phones at a pumpkin patch

— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) October 5, 2024

Upset of the Decade

VANDERBILT WITH THE UPSET OF THE DECADE ON #1 ALABAMA

THIS IS NOT A DRILL, VANDY JUST BEAT ALABAMA 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fAA6kvfhem

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) October 5, 2024

Former Notre Dame Linebacker/Butkus Award Winner, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

pic.twitter.com/8ASpgFf8AT

— JOK (@j_owuu) October 5, 2024

Vanderbilt's Goal Posts are Down!

DOWN GOES THE FIELD GOAL POSTS!!! pic.twitter.com/oGqGLNNGJd

— Vanderbilt Football (@VandyFootball) October 6, 2024