NASHVILLE — Anchor Down. No. 1 down.

Diego Pavia completed 16 of 20 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns, Sedrick Alexander rushed for two TDs, and Vanderbilt shocked the college football world on Saturday by beating No. 1 Alabama 40-35.

Vanderbilt, long at the bottom of the Southeastern Conference, earned its first-ever win against a team ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll — or even the top five — and ended decades of humiliation at the hands of the mighty Crimson Tide.

Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) beat Alabama (4-1, 1-1) for the first time since 1984, and only the third time in the last 64 years. It had lost 23 in a row in a series that started in 1903.

“This is the dream, right here,” Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea said. “And for the next 12 hours, I’m going to enjoy the dream. We’ve got more ahead of us, but this is what Vanderbilt football needs to be about: Big wins on big stages. We’re going to go get some more.”

This was the first time since 1999 — a span of eight meetings — that Vanderbilt scored more than 10 points against Alabama. The Commodores surpassed that total by the end of the first quarter and more than doubled it by halftime as they took the fight to the Tide from the start.

Vanderbilt took the opening kickoff and kept the ball for 6 1/2 minutes before scoring on a 7-yard run by Alexander. It followed that up with an 29-yard interception return TD by Randon Fontenette on Alabama’s first series, and never trailed.

The Commodores led 23-14 at halftime and then stayed a step ahead once Alabama’s high-powered offense got rolling.

Alabama pulled within two points twice, at 23-21 and 30-28, and both times Pavia led Vanderbilt on scoring drives to regain some space. Vandy’s Yilanan Ouattara got a strip sack of Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, setting up a 6-yard TD pass from Pavia to Kamrean Johnson that made it 40-28 with 4:36 to go and was effectively the knockout punch.

Alabama scored on a 2-yard run by Ryan Williams with 2:46 left to get back within a score, but Pavia and the Commodores picked up three first downs on their final drive to finish off the season’s — and maybe the decade’s — biggest SEC upset.

“Games like this change your life,” Pavia said.