Vanderbilt football put on an offensive show against Georgia State, putting up its highest points output since 1918 in a 70-21 win on Sept. 20 at FirstBank Stadium.
Before this game, the Commodores’ most points was 63 against Hawaii in 2022 as they won 63-10.
But 70 points is a threshold they haven’t touched in more than a century.
Vanderbilt displayed dominance against its rival in 1918, defeating Tennessee 76-0. But that wasn’t the program record, either. In 1912, the Commodores scored a whopping 105 points against Bethel in a 105-0 win.
They also didn’t break their school record for total offense (798 yards vs. Davidson in 1969), nor their records for rushing yards (606 vs. Tennessee Tech in 1942) or passing yards (464 vs. Tennessee in 1981). Against Georgia State, they had 635 total yards, 286 rushing yards and 349 passing yards.
What offensive output vs Georgia State means for Vanderbilt football
The most eye-popping thing about Vanderbilt’s offensive output against Georgia State is that most of it came during the first half. Diego Pavia was so effective that he was removed from the game and replaced by Blaze Berlowitz after one drive in the third quarter. While the Commodores did keep scoring after that, they didn’t keep scoring at the same rate as they had before halftime.
Certainly, Pavia and company are clicking on all cylinders. Pavia’s performance was nearly perfect, but tight ends Eli Stowers and Cole Spence as well as receivers Junior Sherrill and Tristen Brown all made big plays. Seeing more receivers involved can only mean good things for Vanderbilt after leaning heavily on Tre Richardson in the first few games.
The trend of the Commodores having a highly effective run game also continued. Sedrick Alexander, Makhilyn Young and AJ Newberry split snaps and all made big plays. Newberry’s presence was especially intriguing considering his limited presence in the first few games after an injury at the end of the 2024 season.
While Vanderbilt won’t quite repeat this output in SEC games, the Commodores have already proven that their offense works against better opponents with its wins against Virginia Tech and South Carolina. In particular, the run game has given opponents fits. Pavia has been an efficient passer and Richardson, Sherrill and Stowers have served as effective receiving threats.
Did Diego Pavia set personal records vs Georgia State?
Pavia did not eclipse his Vanderbilt or career highs, though that was mostly because he was removed from the game early. He topped his 245 passing yards three times in 2024 and once in 2025 and eclipsed 86 rushing yards one time in 2024.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
