Vanderbilt football upsets Virginia Tech in OT behind Diego Pavia

Vanderbilt football blew a 17-point second-quarter lead against Virginia Tech in its season opener Saturday, but the Commodores came back to win 34-27 in overtime.

In overtime, the Commodores got the ball first and transfer quarterback Diego Pavia led a touchdown drive, scoring on a quarterback keeper from 4 yards out.

Virginia Tech quarterback Colin Schlee’s fourth-down pass went out of the back of the end zone to give Vanderbilt the win.

The Commodores got out to a 17-0 lead in the first half but Virginia Tech scored its first points just before halftime. The Hokies then were the better team in the second half as Vanderbilt struggled on offense and Virginia Tech connected on more deep balls.

Virginia Tech took its first lead with 4:21 remaining in the fourth quarter when Kyron Drones and Ali Jennings connected on a 62-yard touchdown pass.

The Commodores then drove down the field and scored a touchdown with 1:51 left. They opted to kick the extra point instead of attempting a two-point conversion.

Vanderbilt forced a three-and-out and drove down the field to set up a field goal attempt, but Brock Taylor missed the kick to send the game to overtime.

Diego Pavia impactful as runner in Vanderbilt football debut

Vanderbilt chose its spots with Pavia’s arm but chose instead to unleash him as a runner. Pavia succeeded at making the right reads and catching the defense off guard with zone-reads, read-options and bootlegs.

Pavia was also successful handing the ball off to Sedrick Alexander, who made some highlight plays in the red zone, including spin moves and a hurdle.

Vanderbilt run defense improved, pass defense a work in progress

Vanderbilt’s defense looked better than it has in the past with coach Clark Lea now calling plays.

The one thing the Commodores’ defense will need to clean up is the defensive penalties, with several personal fouls called. CJ Taylor and Langston Patterson were among those called for personal fouls.

Vanderbilt was especially able to contain Virginia Tech’s rushing attack, with the pass defense being more of a struggle. When the Hokies began to take more deep shots during the second half, they often connected, including a 44-yard pass in the fourth quarter that set up the game-tying touchdown.

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Vanderbilt struggles with fumbles

Although Vanderbilt didn’t lose any, the Commodores did have three fumbles on some of their misdirection plays.

Pavia was able to save two of those plays, spotting the ball and picking it up. On the third, Junior Sherrill recovered his own fumble.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.