Diego Pavia passed for 275 yards with three touchdowns and Vanderbilt found the end zone on four of its first five drives as the Commodores rolled to a 45-3 victory over Charleston Southern on Saturday in Nashville, Tenn.
Sedrick Alexander rushed for 83 yards, Tre Richardson had five receptions for 74 yards, and Eli Stowers had four catches for 86 yards as Vanderbilt won its fourth consecutive season opener. Pavia was 20-of-25 passing.
On the other side, Zolten Osborne was 8-of-16 passing for 54 yards and an interception as the FCS Buccaneers fell to 0-25 against FBS teams since 2002 and 0-2 to Vanderbilt in that time.
Isaiah Gordon had 28 yards rushing on eight carries for Charleston Southern.
Pavia, who carried Vanderbilt to its first winning season in 11 years in 2024, led the Commodores 75 yards in eight plays on the opening drive for a touchdown.
Pavia was credited with a 9-yard TD pass to Kayleb Barnett for the first score, on a play that was actually a short flip to Barnett who was in motion at the snap. Vanderbilt made it 14-0 on its second possession when Pavia found Junior Sherrill on a 12-yard scoring strike.
The Commodores made it 3-for-3 on drives when AJ Newberry scored on a 4-yard run for a 21-0 lead with 10:19 remaining in the first half. Newberry’s TD capped a 14-play, 89-yard drive.
Vanderbilt had 371 yards of offense in the first half to 57 yards for Charleston Southern. Pavia was 17 of 21 for 270 yards and three TDs over the first two quarters, with 33 rushing yards.
The Commodores had TD runs of 4 yards from Makhilyn Young and 35 yards from Jamezell Lassiter in the second half. Vanderbilt’s Brock Taylor kicked a 35-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Charleston Southern avoided the shutout on a 38-yard field goal from Zach Gordon with seven seconds remaining.
The Commodores had 481 yards of total offense in the game to 135 for the Buccaneers.
