Georgia Tech knocked off two Top 10 teams while Vanderbilt toppled then-No. 1 Alabama.
The two opponents in Friday's Birmingham Bowl have each taken highly ranked teams into multiple overtimes. They're also led by mobile quarterbacks who throw few interceptions.
There's a reason that Vandy coach Clark Lea calls the teams “mirror images” of each other, from playing styles to how their seasons went.
“We've upset some people, they've upset some people,” Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia said. “We've had close losses. I think it's a perfect matchup for Vanderbilt.”
The Commodores (6-6) are playing in their first bowl game since 2018 and made national headlines with that upset of the Crimson Tide, while pushing then-No. 7 Missouri to double overtime and falling by a field goal to playoff team Texas.
“This is a culmination of a special year for us,” Lea said “And there's been a lot of effort and sacrifice to get this team to this point. It's also a great opportunity to launch our team into what's next.”
The Yellow Jackets (7-5) took another playoff team, in-state rival Georgia, to eight overtimes before falling in the regular-season finale. They do have wins over then-No. 10 Florida State and then-No. 4 Miami.
“When you look at a bowl game, you look at the matchup," Georgia Tech coach Brent Key said. "I believe they got this one right. This will be a good matchup between two very similar football teams in a lot of ways.”
It's bowl No. 47 for the Yellow Jackets but the first time in a decade they have made the postseason in consecutive years.
Pavia appears eligible to return for a fifth season of college football based on a federal judge’s ruling, though the NCAA is appealing.
“We've just got bigger dreams,” Pavia said. “We want to be playing in January come next season.”
Lea said he saw Pavia in the hallway after they heard the news and “gave him a kiss on the side of his head, which shows you how excited I was.”
“I'm happy for him. I'm happy for our sport, too. I think college football is better when guys like Diego play as long as they possibly can play.”
Georgia Tech’s Haynes King has told reporters he will “probably” be back next season.
Both teams have quarterbacks who are running threats.
King has run for 578 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also could be 90 passing yards from becoming the third FCS player since 1959 with 10 touchdown passes, 2,000 yards and no more than one interception if he avoids a pick in the meantime.
Pavia, the Southeastern Conference newcomer of the year, tops all Power 4 quarterbacks with 716 rushing yards and his 2,147 career yards on the ground is also tops among active QBs. He has been intercepted only four times.
The Yellow Jackets have lost edge rusher Romello Heights (Texas Tech) and leading receiver Eric Singleton Jr. (Auburn) among their transfer portal departures.
But Key thinks his team has the depth to overcome those losses in the bowl game.
“You see some of these teams that are in dire straits right now as far as their ability to play a game,” he said. “That's not the case at all.”
Both teams have been among the nation's best at avoiding turnovers. Vanderbilt has lost only seven turnovers, fewest in the FBS. Georgia Tech has only lost eight turnovers and is tied for second.
