Up Tempo Offense Contributes to Vanderbilt’s Thrilling Win Against Auburn

Vanderbilt made offensive adjustments after halftime and it worked well Saturday night over Auburn.

Nov 8, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) celebrates the touchdown of wide receiver Tre Richardson (6) against the Auburn Tigers during the second half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – It may have been two teams playing on a football field at FirstBank Stadium Saturday night, but it might as well have been a race between two cars on the track of Nashville Superspeedway.

Vanderbilt’s offense did not start off at a fast speed. The defense of Auburn played predictably well for the first two quarters against the Commodores. But at halftime things changed. The slow-tempo, clock-controlling Vanderbilt offense was not working, so it was time to make adjustments during the 20-minute break between the second and third quarters.

That is when Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea and offensive coordinator Tim Beck decided to take its offensive gameplan in the opposite direction. If the traditionally slowed down offense was not able to establish itself, why not see if speeding things up would work at all? So that is precisely what Lea and his team set out to do in the second half, and it worked like a charm.

On the first possession of the second half, Vanderbilt went on a six-play, 73-yard touchdown drive to cut Auburn’s lead down to 20-17. The fascinating thing about the possession is that Vanderbilt was able to go down the field in just 1:41 and worked at a pace that was noticeably faster than the first half. Defensively, Auburn looked a little confused and perplexed at how quickly Vanderbilt moved the ball after a first half that was unproductive for the most part.

“The feeling was that we kind of got some tempo going at the end of the first half, and maybe that was going to be the formula, that was going to be the answer. And sure enough, we got the three and out to come out in the second half. We drive down and score a touchdown,” Lea said.

But Auburn was even more confused on the next drive. On a 3rd and 7 from Vanderbilt’s own 28-yard line, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia converted on third down with a 15-yard pass to tight end Eli Stowers with 7:56 left in the third quarter. Just 10 seconds later, Pavia took the next snap of the game and found his wide receiver Tre Richardson wide open for a 57-yard touchdown that gave Vanderbilt its first lead of the game.

The fast tempo allowed for Richardson to get open. Instead of running what Auburn’s defense thought was a slant route, Richardson ran a go route down the field with nobody near him.

What was further indicative of the impact Vanderbilt’s offensive adjustments had was how the Commodores continued to score seemingly at will and in short amounts of time. In Vanderbilt’s first four possessions of the second half, it scored a touchdown on three of the drives. All three touchdown drives were indicative of an up-tempo offense. Of the three touchdown drives, Vanderbilt’s longest possession lasted just 2:04. In other words, the Commodores were flying down the field.

The sudden change in offensive approach is not how Vanderbilt’s offense has usually operated. The Commodores traditionally build their offense off the rushing attack that eats up time off the clock and forces opposing defenses to stay on the field and eventually get worn down by the guys up front for Vanderbilt. Saturday, it was the fastest offense has run this season, and Lea has a name for it.

“So when we practice, it's a period we call NASCAR, and we do it every week. This week, we did it twice, not because we anticipated the game going like that. It just keeps us in rhythm,” Lea said. “It keeps us fresh, and it gives us the ability to rep those calls. And we haven't had to use it, but tonight, we needed it to win the game. I think the time we've put into that in practice showed up for us tonight, so that probably is the fastest we've gone this season, especially in back-to-back drives.”

With the successful fast possession came plenty of offensive producers. Pavia led the way with a season-high 377 passing yards and three touchdowns, and he also led the rushing attack with 112 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Receiving-wise, Stowers and Richardson both finished the game with over 120 yards as well. Richardson’s 124 yards were a season-high and Stowers’ 122 yards is the second consecutive game in which he had over 100 yards receiving. 

“Diego makes it go. Those guys made plays on the ball in critical moments. You can't say enough about them. And I'm really happy with our wide receivers and their performance,” Lea said.