Vanderbilt upset No. 1 Alabama 40-35 on Saturday. As expected, or expected, the fans at Nashville’s FirstBank Stadium went wild celebrating the Commodores’ first win against a top-five team.
Not only did the crowd flood the field, but the goalposts were knocked down.
As they descended, the goalposts were carried out of the stadium by jubilant Commodores faithful.
Did those fans carry the goalposts two miles away to Broadway in downtown Nashville? Yes, they did. The adrenaline can do wonders for a fan base excited after defeating one of college football’s perennial powerhouses.
Those fans may also have been fueled by the words of former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who dismissed Vanderbilt as a tough place for an SEC football team to play.
“The only place it’s not hard to play in the SEC is Vanderbilt,” Saban said recently on The Pat McAfee Show.
Imagine being in downtown Nashville on a Saturday night and seeing a crowd of soccer fans carrying goalposts walking down the street.
Once the goalposts arrive on Broadway, the bachelorette party will be in shambles
โ Christopher Oven (@Chris_Oven) October 6, 2024
In the end, a police escort accompanied the celebration.
And yes, those goalposts have finally reached the Cumberland River, or the Cumberland River. They did it, folks. It was a great night in Nashville. It’s a demonstration celebrating the biggest victory in Vanderbilt football history.
On social media, fans are wondering if there was any reason for Vanderbilt fans to tear down the goal posts at their home stadium.
Anyone please ask questions @VandyFootball Nashville fans or anyone: When was the last time Vandy fans stormed the field and destroyed the goalposts?
โ Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) October 6, 2024
And new goal posts. They probably haven’t changed the goalposts since 1964.
โ David Petroff (@DavidPetroff) October 6, 2024
To be fair, the staff had never faced such a scenario before, so perhaps stadium security wasn’t prepared for fans destroying the goalposts.
I like the idea that unlike the rest of college football, Vandy doesn’t have safeties around the goalposts. Because, unlike the rest of college football, they didn’t have to consider that possibility.
โ Sean Johnson (@SeanIn60Seconds) October 6, 2024
All the Buzz Kiltons out there are telling Vandy to act like they’ve been there…they haven’t been!?!? Carrying goalposts wild downtown, calculus, differential equations, etc. , let them do things that fancy people do for fun. #Vanderbilt #bama
โ Alice (@als_131) October 6, 2024
Frankly, fans seemed at a loss as to what to do at first. They didn’t immediately rush onto the field, nor did they immediately aim for the goalposts. But it’s okay. This is new and exciting territory for Vanderbilt, and some uncertainty was understandable to fans before pure joy and enthusiasm set in.