For head coach Clark Lea, quarterback Diego Pavia and all of Vanderbilt football – previously 0-60 against top-five opponents – it was a result of a dream that seemed ridiculously oversized from the outside, but from within… maybe not.

For No. 1 seed Alabama and fresh off a thrilling win against Georgia, it was a nightmare performance that could have postseason implications even here in the expanded 12-team playoff.

Vandy 40, Alabama 35… and a party in the party city of Nashville.

Lea has slowly built up the Commodores. But four years into his term, he desperately needed a credibility win that went beyond what hardcore fans could see. After all, Vandy went 0-8 in SEC play a year ago.

In Pavia, the raw transfer from New Mexico State, he may have found his perfect match: a 6-foot-4, 210-pound clenched fist who the vaunted Crimson Tide saw as an opportunity. How does 16 of 20 pass for 252 and two touchdowns? How does another 57 rush?

Vanderbilt didn’t just beat Alabama; it has crushed the tide. It defeated Alabama (418-394) and outscored Alabama (166-84). It converted 12 of 18 third downs and went one-and-one on fourth down. Some of them were pure effort plays, with runners churning for extra yards.

Vanderbilt dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 42:08. Marinate this for a moment.

“This is a dream…,” Lea said afterward on the SEC Network. “Too much to express now. I am proud of our team. I believe in our team. I believe in what we are building. There is more to us than this. This is not an end point, but it is a great finish.”

This was no fluke. This is what Lea wants Vandy to be and knows it is possible. It will never have the five-star appeal of the Tide, but line up and fight and he will take his chances.

And that may be the scariest part for Alabama.

If Vanderbilt can’t dominate physically, can it hold up for the rest of the season? Just a week ago, they won an epic game against Georgia, but that came after giving up a 28-0 lead and requiring the otherworldly acrobatic talents of freshman Ryan Williams (who was at it again against Vandy).

Is this Tide team – is this Kalen DeBoer team – built for the battles ahead, including what will be at least three rounds of the playoffs and, perhaps now for Alabama, four?

One of Nick Saban’s greatest qualities was that he kept his team focused on the task at hand, no matter the opponent, no matter the play, no matter the situation. It’s how he won and won and won, including all four times his Alabama teams played Vanderbilt. They won by a combined 172-13.

“I feel like we have a great football team,” DeBoer said. “We weren’t at our best today. We are going to discover how much we care about each other.”

While all of Alabama is looking for clues.

This is a different Commodore team, but also a different Alabama team; offensively looser and more creative. It can be fun. In the long run it should yield many wins. However, the standards are the standards – and watching Vandy storm the field is not one of them.

Alabama is far from done. However, they are 1-1 in the SEC, with little room for error now, and the Tide still has Tennessee and a road game at LSU on the schedule. No one knows how the selection committee will take into account so-called “bad losses” – that is, if 3-2 Vanderbilt gets closer to .500. Maybe Vandy will start peeling off wins and this won’t look so bad. The Tide can only hope.

New coach, new team, new era and new feelings – or at least feelings you haven’t experienced before Saban arrived.

How good are these guys? How reliable are these guys? If Vandy can strengthen them, what about the Vols and Tigers and so on? Ryan Williams can only be so dominant.

Alabama went No. 1 overall. After ten consecutive losses to top-ranked teams, Vandy turned its schedule on its head with a performance for the ages.

Now it’s Alabama with all the questions, and no one is sure of the answers.