Here are some thoughts on Vanderbilt's 40-34 upset of top-ranked Alabama, 24 hours later.

Safety CJ Taylor told our Joey Dwyer earlier in the week that the Commodores would beat Alabama. Diego Pavia allegedly said something along those lines to somebody, somewhere, too, which general manager Barton Simmons reiterated on the Cover 3 podcast last night.

And so yes, I picked up on some of that during the week, but I've also heard that a time or two through the years and seen a few Vanderbilt teams get blown out afterwards.

So in the moment those things mean nothing to me. And after the game, I'm still not sure I believed they believed it.

After sleeping on it, I think they may have been telling the truth. On the walk from the press box to the press conference I saw a few staff members I knew; there were smiles but it wasn't a state of delirium. I walked down the hallway through the coaches' offices where I saw families. Same thing. I listed to Clark Lea speak after the game, and though Lea got choked up a time or two, there were many references to things ahead.

And my thoughts last night were, it just hasn't hit them yet. And maybe that's just it. Or maybe they were telling the truth all along.

I'm sure it helped that the Commodores took a top-10 team to double overtime two weeks ago in a game Vanderbilt felt it should have won. But few Commodore teams have been able to bottle that confidence and turn it anything meaningful going forward--but yesterday, this one did.

Vanderbilt's ability to beat Alabama on its first offensive drive wasn't something I expected, but it was telling for how the day would go. Sedrick Alexander's 7-yard touchdown run on the game's first drive may not have been the highlight of the day, but it may have been the statement of the day.

Alexander hit a hole, met a defender three yards into the run, and, with the help of teammates pushing him, powered his way well into the end zone.

It was play that opened some eyes in the press box. And I think everyone's first thought was that perhaps Alabama came out sleepwalking and that would wear off. But it didn't, and probably nothing illustrated that better than the Commodores going 12-of-18 on third downs on a day when they ran it 54 times and threw it just 21.

Vanderbilt generally got what it needed when it needed it and I think a lot of credit goes to strength and conditioning coach Robert Stiner and offensive line coach Chris Klenakis for that.

Just watch the game again because it speaks louder and with more clarity than whatever it is I could say there. The way Pavia kept Alabama guessing time and time again--Is he running? Is he handing it off? Is he pulling it out and throwing?--was the key to yesterday's 40-point effort.

It's not just the swagger, it's the split-second decisions that Pavia makes in the moments that make him special. And had a penalty not taken a touchdown off the board where Pavia threw a perfectly-timed-and-placed lateral to Richie Hoskins, we'd be talking about that play, too.

Vanderbilt students are legendary for not caring about football. I'm not sure what it is with this bunch--maybe the demographics have shifted?--but the students have shown up from the opener on and bought in. On a day where Vanderbilt fans were greatly outnumbered, the noise coming from that area down the home stretch was impressive.

And so was breaking a goalpost in half and then having the energy to carry it three miles through downtown traffic and dump it in the Cumberland River.

I've heard several first-person stories from players talking about how they were looked down upon by their fellow classmates to the point they were embarrassed to identify themselves as football players. Maybe everyone just loves a winner, but yesterday felt like a culture shift.

I've covered my share of "this changes everything!" games that really didn't deliver down the line. Maybe the closest came in the James Franklin tenure and the 2012 blowout of Tennessee, followed by a bowl win, followed by another Top 25 season (and bowl win) the next year. We all know what happened next.

And the last time Vanderbilt beat Alabama (1984) early in the season. It ended the year 5-6, went 3-7-1 with the coach who won that game (George McIntyre) getting fired. Vanderbilt's implication in a steroid scandal in the midst of that surely didn't help, but I don't believe the school was pumping money and resources into the program at that time or getting creative on how to win, either.

There are some signs things are moving in a better direction. You see them physically in both end zones. You see them with increased involvement in adding transfers and whispers of relaxed academic standards.

There are also things I don't see, including faster movement on construction and a solid NIL plan. I'll keep the details to myself but whispers of money being an issue have grown increasingly louder in terms of both areas. And don't get me started on the lack of effort in building a fan base.

At the same time, Vanderbilt football has never had a moment like this to springboard into bigger success. At a time when America is deeply divided, yesterday was a chance to see people come together and regardless of race or color or political preference, be happy together.

Vanderbilt has an opportunity to make something of this. The question is whether it has the vision and the will to turn it into something bigger.