Vanderbilt's historic upset of No. 1 Alabama, plus a spooky first Saturday in October

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While you were sleeping, No. 8 Miami escaped with a one-point win at Cal. But other teams weren’t so lucky …

Upset of the Year

Vanderbilt takes down No. 1 Alabama

One week after beating Georgia to take over as the No. 1 team in college football, Alabama was shocked on the road by Vanderbilt. Move aside Northern Illinois, Vandy just took the crown for the season’s most thrilling upset, winning as a more-than-three-touchdown underdog.

The unranked Commodores (3-2) knocked off Bama 40-35 to earn their first-ever win over an AP top-five team and snap a 23-game losing streak against the Tide dating back to 1984. QB Diego Pavia was the star, completing a career-best 80 percent of his passes and sending Nashville into a frenzy.

The postgame scene was college football at its best. It was the perfect mix of petty (Vandy playing a Nick Saban interview in which the former Bama coach said “The only place you play in the SEC and it’s not hard to play is Vanderbilt.”) and party (Pavia’s impassioned postgame interview in which he declared, “Vandy, we’re f—— turnt”). The goalposts (unsurprisingly) didn’t survive the night, and I tracked their whereabouts via social media (I mapped it all out, including a march down Broadway and a swim in the Cumberland River).

As for the College Football Playoff, Alabama’s chances to make the field dipped from 94 percent to 81 percent per The Athletic’s model. The upset isn’t completely crushing to the Tide’s postseason hopes, only shrinking their margin for error with multiple tough tests remaining (at Tennessee, at LSU and at Oklahoma).

How’d it happen? The Commodores never trailed, jumping to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and throwing off the Alabama offense with an early pick six. Even heroics from star receiver Ryan Williams weren’t enough to push Bama past Vandy, which we probably have been underestimating in the first place.

Spooky Saturday

More big losses and 1 close call

The first college football Saturday of October was most definitely in the spooky season spirit. And while Alabama got the biggest shock of the weekend, it was just one of seven ranked teams that lost (including five in the top 11).

Here are the teams that got spooked the most on a scale of 👻 (scared but not shocked) to 👻👻👻👻 (we never saw this coming).

👻 No. 10 Michigan. The Wolverines turned to seventh-year QB Jack Tuttle as their problems at the position continued this week. And while Tuttle delivered a brief spark, it quickly fizzled in a 27-17 loss to Washington as the Huskies got a little revenge after last year’s title game loss. While the offensive issues are a known flaw of the Wolverines, the defense’s rough start didn’t help their cause. Playoff hopes for Michigan (which entered the game with just an 8 percent chance of making the field) look like a lost cause with a tough schedule ahead and two losses already in the books.

👻👻 No. 9 Missouri. The Tigers were destined to sink or swim in their road trip to No. 25 Texas A&M. And in the Aggies’ 41-10 win, Missouri showed it probably wasn’t ready for its top-10 evaluation. Texas A&M scored on its first four drives and took a commanding 24-0 halftime lead. QB Conner Weigman returned from injury after three weeks on the bench and delivered a performance that gave the Aggies their best win of the season. After close calls against Boston College and Vanderbilt, Missouri finally cracked.

👻👻 No. 11 USC. The Trojans blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost 24-17 to Minnesota on the road. Miller Moss was picked off twice, including one that led to the Gophers’ game-tying drive in the fourth quarter. Minnesota entered the game with the best passing defense in the country and held Moss to a season-low 200 yards through the air. Meanwhile, USC’s defense faltered in critical moments. The Gophers’ win gave us this all-time PJ Fleck quote postgame: “We’re the best 2-3 team in the country.”

👻👻👻 No. 8 Miami. Maybe the Canes were tired. After all, it was their first cross-country ACC road trip and the game wrapped a little after 11:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET), but a 39-38 win at Cal was too close for comfort. The Canes nearly were upset last week by Virginia Tech (the Hokies’ Hail Mary was overturned to give Miami the win), but now that close call looks less like a fluke and more like a sign of problems. This game appeared to be entirely in Cal’s favor until the Canes scored three unanswered fourth-quarter TDs. A win is a win, but the Canes look shaky.

👻👻👻👻 No. 4 Tennessee. Just when it looked like Georgia and Alabama were opening a path to the SEC crown, Tennessee went on the road and got upset by Sam Pittman’s Arkansas Razorbacks (19-14). The Vols’ usually electric offense sputtered, and QB Nico Iamaleava threw for a season-low 158 yards while completing 58 percent of his passes. He also was sacked four times. Tennessee’s defense was perhaps even more frustrating, allowing Arkansas to march down the field and take the lead with 1:17 to play behind backup QB Malachi Singleton (starter Taylen Green left in the fourth quarter with an apparent leg injury). After looking like one of the most dominant teams in the sport early this season, Tennessee has some issues to resolve before hosting Alabama in two weeks.

👻👻👻👻 Oklahoma State. The Pokes aren’t ranked, but their downfall is worth noting. OSU suffered its third straight loss, 38-14 against West Virginia. Mike Gundy’s team, once ranked as high as No. 13, was expected to be a top contender for the Big 12 title but instead is off to a 0-3 start in conference play. Last season’s Doak Walker Award-winning RB Ollie Gordon II exited yesterday’s game with an apparent leg injury in the third quarter, which led ESPN analyst Kirk Morrison to question how much the star RB’s focus should turn to his NFL future. “Ollie may have to start thinking about himself as the game, this season continues,” Morrison said on the broadcast.

Quick Snaps

No. 3 Ohio State used a big third quarter to pull away in a 35-7 win against Iowa. In the loss, the Hawkeyes showed they are losing ground on contender status. The Buckeyes now turn their eyes toward their next big test against fellow heavyweight Oregon.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney became the winningest coach in ACC history with 174 career victories. The Tigers beat Florida State 29-13 to give Swinney the title. The Seminoles stunningly are now 1-5.

Vanderbilt became the 40th unranked team to beat the No. 1 team in the AP poll by upsetting Alabama. How stunning was it? We rank the top No. 1 upsets in history.

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(Top photo of Diego Pavia: Butch Dill / Imagn Images)