Diego Pavia completed 13 of 21 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 84 yards and two scores, helping Vanderbilt beat Georgia Tech 35-27 in the Birmingham Bowl on Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
Eli Stowers caught four passes for 55 yards and a touchdown as Vanderbilt (7-6) clinched its first bowl victory and winning season since 2013.
Pavia, who earlier this week received a sixth year of eligibility due to an NCAA lawsuit, won the game’s MVP award.
“This is just a stepping stone of what we want to do here at Vanderbilt,” Pavia said. “We’ve got bigger dreams.”
Haynes King completed 25 of 33 passes for three touchdowns and an interception for Georgia Tech (7-6), while Jamal Haynes rushed for 136 yards.
Aidan Birr’s 33-yard field goal trimmed the Yellow Jackets’ deficit to 14-13 at the 8:34 mark of the third quarter. After both teams traded punts, the Commodores mounted a five-play, 56-yard drive that spanned just 2:20, ending with Pavia’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Stowers with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
Georgia Tech immediately gave the ball back to Vanderbilt, as King was picked off by CJ Taylor. Pavia cashed in with a 7-yard passing score to Quincy Skinner Jr. on the first play of the final quarter, pushing the lead to 28-13.
The Yellow Jackets then coughed the ball up again, as Malik Rutherford’s fumble was recovered by Aeneas DiCosmo. On the Commodores’ ensuing drive, Pavia connected with Stowers for 39 yards, which was followed by Pavia’s 6-yard rushing touchdown with 9:59 left.
After a nearly hour-long lightning delay, Georgia Tech pulled within in two scores as King found Haynes for a 9-yard passing touchdown with 5:03 remaining. Following Vanderbilt’s punt, the Yellow Jackets drove 83 yards in 2:36, with King’s 2-yard passing touchdown to Bailey Stockton stamping the game’s scoring with 1:30 left.
“I thought the character of our team showed with the final seven minutes of the game, how they fought through adversity and continued to play until the end of the game,” Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said.
After punting on its first drive — and forcing a pair of Yellow Jackets punts — the Commodores pieced together an eight-play, 87-yard drive — highlighted by Pavia’s 40-yard pass to Loic Fouonji to Georgia Tech’s 8-yard line. Two plays later, Pavia found Cole Spence for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:26 left in the opening quarter.
The Yellow Jackets then ate up 7:20 with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive, stamped with King’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryland Goede with 10:06 left in the second quarter.
After Vanderbilt regained the lead on Pavia’s 2-yard rushing score on fourth-and-1, Birr concluded the first half scoring with a 43-yard field goal with 8 seconds left. The Commodores led 14-10 at halftime.
–Field Level Media
