On Saturday, in front of its first home sellout crowd in a nonconference game since 2017, the Vanderbilt Commodores rallied to win their third straight season-opener, topping Virginia Tech, 34-27. The overtime win earned Vanderbilt the Cheez-It National Team of the Week for games the weekend of Aug. 31, as selected by the All-America committee of the Football Writers Association of America.
This is Vanderbilt's fourth FWAA National Team of the Week honor overall and its first since the week of Nov. 9, 2013. Since 2002, the FWAA has named a National Team of the Week, now honoring more than 100 different Division I programs.
Vanderbilt scored on each of its first three drives to take a 17-0 lead in the debut of quarterback Diego Pavia under center. Pavia, the 2023 Conference USA Player of the Year at New Mexico State, threw for 190 yards and added 104 yards on the ground.
On the day, Pavia finished 12-of-16 in the air with two scores and rushed for the winning touchdown on Vanderbilt’s overtime possession. He is the first Commodore to have over 100 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in a game since Mike Wright against Kentucky on Nov. 12, 2022.
Pavia earned the Southeastern Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week nod on Monday.
"I think the response of our team is really important, because we have caved under that pressure in our past," coach Clark Lea said. "And some of that past includes me, and some of that past was before. ... We lost it in the third quarter, we got sloppy and we were able to pull it back together. But the look in their eyes heading into that overtime sequence. ... The battle back was so incredibly meaningful. It's a great lesson for us to step into that belief."
With the Commodores trailing 27-20 late in the fourth quarter, sophomore Sedrick Alexander hauled in a Pavia pass and tip-toed into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown reception that tied the game with 1:51 left in regulation.
Vanderbilt received the ball first in overtime and marched the 25 yards in four plays to take a 34-27 lead, capped off by Pavia’s four-yard touchdown run. The Commodores pushed Virginia Tech back to a fourth-and-11 and defended a pass into the end zone to seal the win. Langston Patterson had 10 tackles for the Commodores and Linus Zunk had two sacks.
Vanderbilt hosts Alcorn State at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday in a game televised on ESPNU.
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