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NASHVILLE—-Jared Curtis was off somewhere in Dickson, Tennessee, scrolling on his phone on Oct. 5, 2024 when he saw a video of Vanderbilt’s students carrying a goalpost out of FirstBank Stadium.
Curtis was a heavily-recruited junior in high school and didn’t watch much college football, but he saw that Vanderbilt beat No. 1 Alabama. He’s not all that reflective on that moment—which came a year before Vanderbilt surged in his recruitment—but the fact that it reached him is emblematic of the magnitude of that day for Clark Lea’s program.
“I saw the aftermath, field storming, which is pretty cool,” Curtis said Tuesday in his understated way. “That was cool.”
Curtis’ declaration that Vanderbilt’s win over Alabama may be the understatement of the season. Vanderbilt inherently changed as a program when the final horn sounded and its students stormed the field. It’s undoubtedly Vanderbilt’s biggest win in program history and is still its only win ever over a top-five opponent.
Perhaps Vanderbilt kicker Brock Taylor–who was Vanderbilt’s starting kicker in 2024–has a more apt description of the night.
“It was a special night,” Taylor said. “It was a huge turning point for our program.”
Vanderbilt’s win that night took it from perennial loser to a program that garnered national respect and was considered a threat to become more than merely a bottom feeder. Lea and company used the win to become bowl eligible that season and used its momentum to assemble a roster that won a program-record 10 games in 2025.
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It’s difficult to believe, but the circumstances entering that matchup aren’t all that different than the ones entering this one–which will be the first between these two teams at FirstBank Stadium since that night. Vanderbilt will once again be a heavy underdog–like it was in the fallout of its losses to Georgia State and Missouri in 2024–and Alabama is atop the sport as the College Football Playoff committee’s No. 3 team in the country. Alabama entered that 2024 matchup coming off of a statement win over Georgia and appears to be in a similar position following its 31-13 win over LSU in Baton Rouge.
Vanderbilt sits in what could be considered an even more discouraging position this time around, though. It’s 4-5 and has a five-game losing streak under its belt. It picked up its first SEC win against Mississippi State in Starkville, but that performance still wasn’t up to its standard. Alabama has also declared that it’s taking Vanderbilt far more seriously than it did that season–which was head coach Kalen DeBoer’s first as Alabama’s head coach. But, Lea and company are also clinging to the feelings they held that season.
“At that point in time, there was a lot in question about where the team was and where we were headed,” Lea said. “I think there's a lot that we can learn from that experience in this moment, too, where the season hasn't actually gone the way we've envisioned it, but here we are, and I think we're getting closer to that identity showing up.”
Lea remembers that Alabama win not only for its historical significance, but also for how Vanderbilt demonstrated that following its blueprint can lead to it beating anyone. Lea recalls that Vanderbilt put together a three-phase effort that day, sustained its play throughout the entire afternoon, controlled the time of possession and won on the line of scrimmage with a physical run game.
Outside of the obvious translatable details of that game, Lea hasn’t spent much time addressing that night with his 2026 team throughout the week. He isn’t focused on it, he says, but Lea wasn’t dismissive of those who wanted to talk about it on Thursday afternoon. He appears to believe that telling of the story of his program without mentioning that afternoon would be doing a disservice to it. But, the time for him to spend more time delving into why will be another time.
“That game kind of jump started what I felt like was a really good run for us, a two year run,” Lea said. “I do believe it'll be a moment that we go back to when we're reflecting back on the program in 20 years. Right now, we’re in it and we’re focused on this week and what we need to do to beat Alabama.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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