Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia turns the football over in the stands and draws penalties in the Birmingham Bowl

Diego Pavia turned the ball over to a raucous fan after running out of bounds in the red zone in the third quarter of Vanderbilt football Birmingham Bowl vs. Georgia Tech.

The play come shortly after an interception by CJ Taylor set Commodores (6-6) up with a short field. Pavia gained four yards on the play, but he was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that set Vanderbilt back 15 yards.

The Commodores still scored a touchdown later in the contest to take a 28-13 lead.

The play came after an increasingly chippy third quarter for Vanderbilt. On the previous drive, which also resulted in a Commodores touchdown, Georgia Tech was called for three unsportsmanlike conducts, although two of them were tied with an unsportsmanlike conduct against Vanderbilt. The third penalty was on Yellow jackets coach Brent Key to argue a pass interference call.

During the second quarter, the Commodores’ Kolbey Taylor had been called for an unsportsmanlike conduct and players from both teams were involved in a melee without penalty.

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Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or at X, formerly Twitter, @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on the Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football: Diego Pavia flips the ball into the stands and draws a flag in the bowl