ReliaQuest Bowl Recap: Vanderbilt’s Historic Season Ends in Gritty Loss to Iowa
The curtain has closed on the Diego Pavia era at Vanderbilt - and while it didn’t end with a trophy, it ended with a fight that summed up the Commodores’ most successful season in program history.
Vanderbilt fell 34-27 to Iowa in the ReliaQuest Bowl, unable to slow down a Hawkeyes rushing attack that dictated the tempo from start to finish. The loss dropped the Commodores to 10-3, but that final record tells a bigger story: this was a landmark season in Nashville.
Ten wins - the most ever. A Heisman runner-up quarterback.
And a team that didn’t back down, even when the odds stacked up.
Pavia Guts It Out
Diego Pavia didn’t go quietly. The senior quarterback, who rewrote the school record books this season, threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns without a turnover.
He added 36 yards and a score on the ground, doing everything he could to keep Vanderbilt in it. But he was under pressure all afternoon, sacked four times and constantly forced to make plays on the move.
Despite the relentless heat from Iowa’s front, Pavia kept delivering. His final stat line pushed him to a school-record 3,539 passing yards on the year - and he finished just one touchdown shy of becoming Vanderbilt’s first-ever 30-touchdown passer in a single season.
But football’s a team game, and Pavia didn’t get the help he needed - especially in the trenches and on the ground.
Iowa’s Ground Game Takes Over
The story of the game was Iowa’s ground-and-pound attack. The Hawkeyes ran for 174 yards - nearly six yards per carry when adjusting for sacks - and hit Vanderbilt with a pair of backbreaking chunk plays: a 44-yard burst in the first quarter and a 32-yarder in the third. Both set up touchdowns.
When it mattered most, Iowa’s offensive line took control. Midway through the fourth quarter, after Pavia had just pulled Vanderbilt within a score with a rushing touchdown, the Hawkeyes responded with a soul-crushing 13-play, 49-yard drive that drained more than seven minutes off the clock. Three third-down conversions - including a third-and-7 from midfield - kept the drive alive, and a field goal pushed the lead back to two possessions.
Pavia answered again, leading a lightning-quick touchdown drive to cut the deficit to seven. But he never got another shot. Iowa closed the game out with another third-down conversion, this time picking up a third-and-1 with an 11-yard sweep off the left edge that sealed it.
Vandy’s Ground Game Comes Up Empty
While Iowa’s run game was the engine, Vanderbilt’s was stuck in neutral. Outside of Pavia’s scrambling, the Commodores got almost nothing from their running backs.
Sedrick Alexander, Makhilyn Young, and Tre Richardson combined for just 15 yards on seven carries. That lack of balance made it easier for Iowa to tee off on Pavia and control the tempo.
Still, Vanderbilt’s passing game found life. Tre Richardson (127 yards) and Junior Sherrill (123) both topped 100 receiving yards, stepping up in the absence of Eli Stowers. But without a run game to keep Iowa honest, the Commodores were always playing catch-up.
A Historic Season, Even in Defeat
The loss drops the SEC to 0-4 in non-Playoff bowl games this postseason, but for Vanderbilt, the bigger picture matters more. This was a season that changed the narrative around the program. Pavia’s brilliance, the 10-win campaign, and the fight shown in Tampa - it all signals a shift in what’s possible for the Commodores.
The Diego Pavia era may have ended without a bowl win, but it didn’t end quietly. It ended with a quarterback leaving everything on the field and a team that kept swinging until the final whistle. And for a program that’s spent decades in the shadows of the SEC, that’s a legacy worth remembering.
Final: Iowa 34, Vanderbilt 27