Takeaways From Vanderbilt's 31-24 Win Over LSU

NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt football took down LSU 31-24 on Saturday to move to 6-1 before its fans took over the field after a one-minute, with it Clark Lea’s team appears to have its best win of the 2025 season.

Here’s some takeaways on the Commodores’ win.

Another history-breaking win

Vanderbilt hadn’t beaten LSU since 1990, it had only knocked off six top 10 teams in program history. Yet, it did it.

This Vanderbilt team overcame the odds yet again and found a way to win against Brian Kelly’s team.

What a win. What a season.

Vanderbilt is a legitimate College Football Playoff contender now

Vanderbilt is 6-1 with two ranked wins, two power-five road wins and an opportunity to achieve the goal that everyone thought it was crazy for having in the first place.

The Commodores proved their worth on Saturday with its statement win over Kelly’s team.

Perhaps the greatest indicators of the magnitude of this one are that Vanderbilt doesn’t seem to care all that much about becoming bowl eligible and that its crowd didn’t take the field until

How about Diego Pavia?

Pavia was as good as anyone could’ve asked for on Saturday.

The Vanderbilt quarterback always had an answer for anything LSU threw at him. He only threw for 160 yards and completed 14 of his 22 passes, but he had tremendous command of Vanderbilt’s offense.

Mix some Pavia magic into that statline and it ended in one of his best games as Vanderbilt’s quarterback.

Nobody has made LSU’s defense look like that

The most points LSU had given up in a game prior to Saturday’s was 24. Vanderbilt hit that mark before the halfway point of the third quarter.

Vanderbilt scored on four of its first five drives, scored a total of 31 points, racked up 399 yards and appeared to be in complete control against one of the SEC’s best defenses. It attacked it and looked completely unphased against it.

That says something about the offense Tim Beck has built.

Pavia’s 4th and 1 escape was a stroke of magic

Pavia looked all but dead as he faced up with a defender before eventually evading and finding MK Young for a 14-yard conversion. There was no other way to describe it than magic.

It’s a stroke that raised Vanderbilt’s drive from dead to as alive as it’d been to that point. That series ended in a touchdown.

It was the play of the year for this team.

That was the best game LSU’s offense has played and Vanderbilt’s defense had a part to play in it

LSU hadn’t scored more than 23 points on the season, that total came against Louisiana Tech, until Saturday.

Garrett Nussmeier had perhaps his most impressive game of the season on Saturday as he went 19-for-28 with 225 yards and a few unbelievable throws under pressure. It was a significantly better performance than he or the rest of the Tigers’ offense has had to this point.

Vanderbilt’s defense isn’t solely to blame, but is ultimately responsible for allowing LSU to be in this thing despite a nice offensive afternoon for Pavia and company.

How about Cole Spence?

We’ve known that Spence has the ability to be a real downfield threat for this Vanderbilt team since his breakout 2024 fall camp, but he’s primarily been used as a blocking tight end to this point.

Saturday indicated that those who believed he could be a big part of Vanderbilt’s downfield passing attack aren’t crazy. Despite sporting a hefty knee brace, Spence was often open downfield and assisted Vanderbilt on a few long drives.

The Vanderbilt tight end finished the day with five receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. It was a reward for a guy that has more than paid his dues with some physicality around the line of scrimmage.

Tim Beck, Vanderbilt’s offense played as if it wanted to win rather than not lose

Conservative wasn’t in the cards all that much for Beck and his offense on Saturday afternoon.

They went for it on 4th and 1 within their own territory. They pushed it down the field for a field goal when it could’ve kneed it out late in the first half. They attacked LSU’s generally stout defense rather than backing down from it.

Vanderbilt was much better in the red zone than it was against Alabama

Rather than turning it over twice in the red zone and effectively losing itself the game like Vanderbilt did two weeks ago, it kept itself in the game as a result of what it did within the 20-yard line.

Vanderbilt cut the cute stuff around the goal line and punched it in with a quarterback sneak as well as a run up the gut from Sedrick Alexander on 4th and 1 in its first two red zone trips. It followed it up with another red zone touchdown in the second half.