AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Diego Pavia threw a pair of touchdown passes, including a 4-yarder to Eli Stowers with 4:18 left, and Vanderbilt became bowl eligible for the first time since 2018 with a 17-7 win over Auburn on Saturday. The Commodores (6-3, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) locked up another win in their surprising season with a 14-play, 78-yard drive that consumed 8 minutes, 53 seconds.
It was kept alive when Keldric Faulk was penalized for leverage while trying to block a field goal by Brock Taylor, setting up first down at the 4. “This is a great moment for our program and one that we need to celebrate the right way,” Vandy coach Clark Lea said after emerging from a lengthy and noisy locker room celebration. “I think if you look at where we’ve come in, I guess, what amounts to 11 months now, we’ve had an incredible journey.
I feel like in December we probably hit rock-bottom coming out of last season.” The Tigers (3-6, 1-5), meanwhile, fell one loss away from their fourth straight losing season. Pavia was contained much of the way but still delivered a second straight win over Auburn.
He completed 9 of 22 passes for 143 yards with a 28-yard touchdown to AJ Newberry. Pavia led New Mexico State to a huge upset of the Tigers last season before transferring to the SEC and helping produce a much less surprising victory. Vandy was winless in eight SEC games last season, ending on a 10-game skid.
Then came Pavia, Stowers and other key newcomers who helped produce a .