A stunner: Vanderbilt takes down No. 1 Alabama for first win ever over a top-5 team

Vanderbilt broke a 40-year losing streak against Alabama and got the first win over a top-five team in program history with a 40-35 stunner over the No. 1 Crimson Tide.

The Commodores got a pick-6 in the first half and put the game away in the fourth quarter after Alabama QB Jalen Milroe fumbled as he was sacked.

Eight plays after Milroe’s fumble, Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia found Kamrean Johnson for a six-yard TD on third down. It was yet another third-down conversion for the Commodores in a day filled with them.

Until Saturday, Vanderbilt hadn’t beaten Alabama since a 1984 win in Tuscaloosa. And the series hadn’t been close in recent years. In the four times Alabama played Vanderbilt when the Crimson Tide was coached by Nick Saban, Vanderbilt scored a combined 13 points.

The Commodores hit that number in the first quarter on Saturday when Randon Fontenette intercepted a deflected pass and ran it in 29 yards for a TD.

Alabama cut the Vanderbilt lead to five on a fourth-down touchdown run by freshman sensation Ryan Williams. But Vanderbilt was able to run the clock out with three first downs and prevent Alabama from getting a chance to win the game with another touchdown.

Not only is the win the first for Vanderbilt over Alabama in 40 years, it's the first time the Commodores have beaten the Crimson Tide in Nashville since 1976. Alabama had won 23 consecutive games over Vanderbilt dating back to that 1984 win and Vanderbilt entered the game 0-60 against teams ranked in the top five of the AP Top 25.