Upon Further Review: Vanderbilt 45, Auburn 38

The final word on Vanderbilt’s win against Auburn, plus 10 things you may not have noticed.

Nov 8, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores head coach Clark Lea stands with his team during the fight song against the Auburn Tigers during the overtime period at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

NASHVILLE – That was quite the opposite of what everyone expected from Vanderbilt’s game against Auburn. In what was expected to be a game highlighted by Vanderbilt’s offensive matchup against Auburn’s defense turned into a straight up shootout in the third quarter.

Vanderbilt came away with a 45-38 win over Auburn Saturday in overtime. It was a game marked by stellar offense on both sides, with both defenses struggling to find a footing. Vanderbilt went into halftime down 20-10, but came out the second half ready to attack the Auburn defense.

With fast offense, Vanderbilt was able to put up 35 points after halftime and come all the way back to win off a touchdown from tight end Cole Spence. Despite the lackluster performance by the Vanderbilt defense, the Commodores deserve credit where it is due for coming up with big stops to get them back in the game and the clutch stop in overtime to win.

With that being said, here is the play of the game, player of the game and stat of the game as well as 10 things you may not have noticed from the game.

Play of the Game: I think you have to go back to the final play of the game, which won the game. Auburn’s offense was rolling all day long, but in the end it was Vanderbilt’s defense who made the game-winning play despite an uncharacteristic day from the unit. Vanderbilt’s postseason hopes also stayed alive because the defense stood tall. 

Player of the Game: Diego Pavia. Who knows what his Heisman odds will be after this game, but he put on a Heisman-like performance against Auburn. It was a slow start, but in the second half Pavia took control and controlled the game by himself as he finished with 377 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Stat of the Game: With the win, Vanderbilt became 2-0 this season when trailing 20-10 at halftime. The other time was in September’s win at Virginia Tech

10 things you may not have noticed

1.Offense, offense and more offense: Both teams were on fire on offense, with each team putting up over 500 yards of offense. Auburn had 563 yards and Vanderbilt had 544 yards.

2.Red Zone: Both teams were perfect in the red zone, which makes sense given the amount of offense that there was. Both teams made it into the red zone five different times and came away with points on all five on the possessions.

3. A tale of two halves: Vanderbilt had 216 yards of offense in the first half while Auburn had 292. In the second half, Vanderbilt had 328 yards of offense compared to Auburn’s 271 yards. 

4. Third Down: Third down offense for both teams were nearly identical. Vanderbilt finished the game 7-for-12 on third down while Auburn finished 6-for-13 on third down

5. Big Runs: There were plenty of explosive plays to go around Saturday, both on the ground and through the air. On the ground, Vanderbilt had six rushes of at least 10 yards. The longest run of the day was Pavia’s 28-yard scramble late in the third quarter.

6.Big Passing Plays: Pavia had a stellar performance through the air today. He completed nine different passes for at least 15 yards. The longest of the night was the 57-yard touchdown to Tre Richardson that came off a blown coverage by the Auburn defense.

7.Plays: Auburn finished the game with 13 more plays than Vanderbilt, 82-69. However, Vanderbilt finished the game with a better yards per play average. The Commodores finished with 7.9 yards per play compared to Auburn’s 6.9 yards per play.

8. Terrific Receiving: Vanderbilt had two pass catchers with over 120 receiving yards. Eli Stowers had 12 catches for 122 yards. Stowers took hits and made big plays throughout the night. Tre Richardson, however, led all receivers with 124 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Obviously, his best catch of the night was his 57-yard touchdown to give his team its first lead of the game.

9.First Downs and Possession Time: There were a combined 64 first downs in the game Saturday night, 34 for Auburn and 30 for Vanderbilt. Meanwhile, it was a pretty evenly split possession time. Vanderbilt finished with a slight upper hand of 31 minutes to Auburn’s 29.

10. Postseason Conversation: Vanderbilt is now 8-2 heading into its second bye week. The Commodores did get some help in the rankings with No. 14 Virginia losing to Wake Forest and No. 15 Louisville losing to California. A 10-2 record will probably get Vanderbilt into the playoffs, but any team that is ahead of Vanderbilt and loses helps the Commodores.