5/10/24 – The black day in Tuscaloosa, and Ryan Williams didn’t tiptoe around the question. He didn’t play it safe or fall back on clichés. The star wideout leaned forward and swung, figuratively and verbally, at the very team that embarrassed the Alabama Crimson Tide in 2024. The Vanderbilt loss still lingers like an unwelcome guest in Tuscaloosa, and this year, Williams wants everyone to know that this time they are carrying a “sledgehammer,” with them.
Ryan Williams was asked if it’d be a revenge game of Alabama against Vanderbilt this year. “We’re going to kill an ant with a sledgehammer this year,” Williams told Jon Gruden. Delivering a quote that instantly ricocheted across social media. It was bold, brash, and unmistakably Alabama — the kind of confident fire that Tide fans have come to expect from their top players. But not everyone was buying it. FOX Sports analyst RJ Young didn’t waste time firing back. “The question that I would ask — where the hell was that sledgehammer last year, dawg?” Young said. “Is Vandy… it’s Vanderbilt.”
That jab wasn’t unearned. Vanderbilt’s 40-35 upset over the then-No. 1 Alabama last October wasn’t just a quirky footnote in SEC history — it was a seismic event. Clark Lea’s Commodores, led by a red-hot Diego Pavia, didn’t just win — they outgained Bama. Forced two turnovers and held the Tide to 84 rushing yards. That win snapped a 60-game losing streak to AP top-five opponents and ended a 40-year drought against Alabama that had included 23 straight losses. Young even shared his experience when Lea shut him, “Until Vanderbilt upset Virginia Tech. I’m making jokes about how Vanderbilt does not belong in the SEC. It is a problem child.”
Dec 27, 2024; Birmingham, AL, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia (2) warms up before the 2024 Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images
The Tide were 64–4 as a top-ranked AP team facing unranked squads. Then came unranked Vandy, who’d had enough of being the SEC’s punchline. ‘Watch this’, they said. And they did. Ryan Williams, in the aftermath of that loss, didn’t have much to offer outside of a guttural truth: ‘Damn’. His individual numbers weren’t bad — three catches for 82 yards — but the stats didn’t matter.
It was the scoreboard that haunted them. “They just played a better football game than us,” Williams said, reflecting on the shocking night in Nashville. “We came out slow, and they capitalized. They held the ball, they had their game plan, and they executed it.” And that’s where the wound lies. Bama wasn’t beaten by flukes or lucky breaks. They got outplayed, out-schemed, and out-fought by a team many assumed didn’t belong on the same field.
Heading into 2025, the QB situations flip the script again. Jalen Milroe is off to the pros, and Alabama will undergo a reset under center. Meanwhile, the Commodores return with Pavia, the same passer who lit up the Tide’s secondary last year by going 16 of 20 with two touchdown passes. Continuity matters — and with the same offensive trigger man and an emboldened coaching staff, Vandy won’t come to Tuscaloosa just to wave hello. Alabama might have the home field advantage this time around, but the ghosts of last year’s meltdown still echo in the locker room.
Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia responds to Ryan Williams’ callouthttps://t.co/WF22IXhaPs https://t.co/GOA8SCFPRR pic.twitter.com/Qi4OgrL1pp
— On3 (@On3sports) June 4, 2025
Williams tried to double down with more fight. “Every game we fell short last year, we definitely got red eyes going into them,” he said. It’s the kind of quote that fuels bulletin boards in opposing facilities. We’ll see if the Tide can kill this ‘ant’, or if the ‘Dores can get lightning to strike twice. And rumor has it, even Diego Pavia has a few words stored up for “Mr. Hollywood” Ryan Williams. Oct. 4 is circled.
Vanderbilt’s QB isn’t backing down from Ryan Williams’ smoke
Things are heating up between Alabama and Vanderbilt — and we’re still months away from kickoff. After Bama wideout Ryan Williams boldly declared that the Crimson Tide would ‘kill an ant with a sledgehammer’ when facing Vandy this year, Commodores QB Diego Pavia wasn’t about to let that slide.
Late Tuesday night, Pavia responded with a little flair of his own on Instagram. He reposted a reel set to Gucci Mane’s ‘Made It (Outro)’, with the pointed lyric: “They actin’ like they tough but don’t want no confrontation.” No caption needed — just a fiery 100 emoji and a smoke emoji to let everyone know he got the message loud and clear… and is ready for whatever’s coming.
For anyone still sleeping on Pavia, just rewind to last season. After leading Vanderbilt to a wild upset win, fans rushed the field — and in the middle of the chaos, Pavia shouted a phrase that instantly became legend: “Vandy we f—— turnt.” Vanderbilt’s quarterback isn’t here for intimidation. If Alabama’s bringing a sledgehammer, Pavia’s bringing receipts.
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