Cellar dwellers no more, Vanderbilt talking and targeting national title yes in football

By Canadian Press on August 19, 2025.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nobody is more tired of hearing how Vanderbilt should know its place than coach Clark Lea, and he has joined quarterback Diego Pavia talking about playing for a national championship.

Yes, in football. And yes, this season.

“I don’t think you can do something until you say it,” Lea said. “Changing a culture is hard, and this has been an environment that hasn’t given way to many winning seasons. … There’s nothing about the history of this program to hold us back.”

Lea knows well the challenges. He played here himself, and t he Commodores going 7-6 record last season is the program’s first winning record since 2013 and just the fourth overall since 1983.

Lea believes he has his best team yet in his fifth season. He knows Vandy went 4-4 in games decided by eight points or less last season, including two overtime games. Pavia, who has made headlines all offseason talking about playing for a national title, said that means Vandy was as close to finishing 10-2 as 2-10.

Now Vanderbilt faces one of the SEC’s toughest road schedules featuring five games against Top 25 teams, three inside the Top 10.

Pavia’s back

The quarterback who made Vanderbilt history by leading an upset of then-No. 1 Alabama got an extra season thanks to a preliminary injunction granted by a federal judge. He threw for 2,293 yards and 20 touchdowns with four interceptions. Pavia also ran for 801 yards and eight more scores. He played with an injured hamstring over the final seven games, and Vanderbilt went 3-4 in that stretch.

Eli Stowers

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound tight end led Vanderbilt with 49 catches for 638 yards and five touchdowns. He had three games with at least 100 yards receiving. With Pavia back, so is Stowers who is a preseason AP All-American who could be the first tight end taken in the 2026 NFL draft.

Three-way ‘Dore

Martel Hight is hoping to follow the path that took Travis Hunter to a Heisman Trophy last season. Hight had two interceptions and a forced fumble at cornerback last season, and Hight also returned a punt for a touchdown.

Now he’s practicing at wide receiver, giving Pavia another target. Hight said he played against Hunter in high school when he played both offense and defense.

“Once I seen Travis do it, I was like, ‘Hey, Coach, let me do that,’” Hight said.

The schedule

The Commodores open Aug. 30 hosting Charleston Southern followed by September visits from Georgia State and Utah State. The rest is a lot tougher, including a two-game road swing starting Sept. 6 at Virginia Tech and then No. 13 South Carolina. The true gauntlet starts Oct. 4 with a visit to No. 8 Alabama, back-to-back home games against No. 9 LSU on Oct. 18 and Missouri on Oct. 25 capped by a trip to No. 1 Texas on Nov. 1. The season finale is Nov. 29 at No. 24 Tennessee.

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Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press