NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sedrick Alexander ran for two touchdowns, Randon Fontenette scored on a pick-six and Diego Pavia outplayed Heisman Trophy contender Jalen Milroe as Vanderbilt stunned Alabama 40-35 Saturday for the Commodores' first win over the nation's top-ranked team.
Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1) was 0-60 all time vs. AP top-5 teams before Saturday, the longest such streak in the poll era (since 1936). The Commodores hadn't beaten Alabama on the field in 40 years, but they snapped a 23-game skid by making big play after big play to give coach Clark Lea his alma mater's biggest win ever.
Alabama won the opening toss and deferred to start the game. Alexander capped the opening drive with a 7-yard touchdown to put Vandy ahead to stay. It marked the first time since 2007 that Vandy had opened a game against Alabama with a touchdown -- Nick Saban's second game as coach. Alabama rallied and won that day 24-10.
This time, the Tide (4-1, 1-1) helped Vanderbilt pad that lead with too many mistakes, sloppy play and penalties.
Alabama got within 30-28 with Milroe's TD run in the third quarter.
Vanderbilt answered with 10 points. Of their total, 13 came off Milroe's two turnovers, the second a strip sack by Miles Capers recovered by Yilanan Ouattara at midfield for Vanderbilt.
Pavia capped the drive with a 6-yard TD pass to Alabama native Kamrean Johnson with 5:07 left for a 40-28 lead. Milroe tried to rally Alabama, with Ryan Williams scoring on an end around on fourth-and-1 from 2 yards out with 2:46 left, but they never got the ball back.
Vanderbilt fans and players started celebrating as Pavia knelt down to run out the clock.
Milroe had his second pass of the game tipped into the air by De'Rickey Wright, who committed to Alabama and wound up at Vanderbilt. Fontenette grabbed the ball and ran 24 yards to the end zone for the pick-six and a 13-0 lead at 8:03 of the first quarter.
Vanderbilt jumped out to a 23-7 lead, just the second time in the past 10 seasons that a No. 1 team trailed an unranked opponent by 16 or more points. Clemson trailed by 18 to Boston College in 2020 and won 30-28.
Alabama didn't come back in this game.
Vanderbilt never trailed as the Commodores played keep-away, holding the ball for just over 42 minutes. Alabama had a 312-252 yardage advantage on offense. It didn't matter.
The Commodores got help from Alabama to keep a 17-play drive that used up 9:50 of the clock with a pair of penalties. The Tide, with 17-year-old phenom Williams back to field the punt, also had another player on the field with the same No. 2 to give Vandy a first down.
On third down, Alabama linebacker Que Robinson hit Pavia and drew a flag for roughing that Tide fans hated. Five plays later, Alexander scored from a yard out to put Vandy up 20-7. Brock Taylor put Vandy up 23-7 with a 51-yard field goal with 4:10 left in the first half.
Alabama had just moved to the top of the AP Top 25 after an emotional win over Georgia. The Tide opened as 22.5-point favorites over Vanderbilt at ESPN BET; it's the first time an AP No. 1 team lost as at least a three-touchdown favorite since 2008, when USC fell to Oregon State as a 25-point favorite.
The Associated Press and ESPN Research contributed to this story.