Instant Analysis: Vanderbilt Football Achieves First Ever 10-Win Season

Vanderbilt Commodores On SI’s Joey Dwyer and Graham Baakko broke down Vanderbilt's win over Tennessee.

Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander (28) runs past Tennessee linebacker Edwin Spillman (13) during the third quarter at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. | Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A historic night for Vanderbilt football.

Vanderbilt rolled into Knoxville for rivalry weekend to take on Tennessee and came out with a 45-24 dominating win over the Volunteers for the program’s first ever 10-win season, finishing the regular season at 10-2.

It was a game from the start where offense was going to rule the day. Vanderbilt and Tennessee both came out swinging on offense, trading touchdowns over the course of the first half as the game was tied 21-21 at the break. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia threw a touchdown to wide receiver Tre Richardson 12 seconds before halftime to tie the game.

From then on, the offense continued to roar. The Commodores came out of the locker rooms with a touchdown drive for its first lead of the game while taking nearly seven minutes off the clock. Then, the Vanderbilt defense forced a three-and-out and extended the lead to 31-21 with a drive that led to a 35-yard field goal from Brock Taylor.

Vanderbilt allowed Tennessee to get it back to a one score game at 31-24, but that was the last of the scoring from Tennessee. Pavia led two more touchdown drives in the final quarter that ended up with him running the ball into the end zone for one touchdown and running back Sedrick Alexander with the other as Vanderbilt ran away with the game 45-24.

Pavia had yet another Heisman-like performance. After throwing two interceptions in the first half, he made up for it in the second half as he finished the game with 165 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Through the air, Pavia had 268 passing yards and a pass touchdown.

Sedrick Alexander also had a day as he had over 100 yards rushing for the first time in his career with 115 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

“This is one for the record books. First 10 win season in program history. It's really special to win a game here in Knoxville on the road,” Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said. “Tough environment. It's really tough. The Tennessee team makes it more meaningful and just it's a credit to our players and our coaching staff, just all the work they poured into this, all the belief that the game was not straightforward. I mean, it had all the noise and all the chaos you would want, the way we settled in and finished the first half, the way we dominated the second half. That's a mature team, that's a physically capable team, and there's so much credit to go around.”

Now, Vanderbilt awaits to see what the College Football Playoff committee does with the Commodores’ rank. Vanderbilt currently sits four spots behind the cut line and did not get a ton of help this weekend. The question is how much style points come into play that could help Vanderbilt Tuesday night. Regardless, the win marks one of the most memorable wins in program history as Vanderbilt reached the double digit win mark.