Last weekend featured one of the most shocking victories in NCAAF so far, as the surprising Vanderbilt team defeated perennial contender Alabama decisively, making headlines. The game was marked by an incident involving Malachi Moore and Diego Pavia, and it was the safety himself who addressed the situation.
While the resounding victory for Clark Lea’s squad was one of the highlights of the day, the game was interrupted by the incident between Alabama safety Malachi Moore and Vanderbilt star QB Diego Pavia.
Regarding the situation, Moore spoke with the media and shared how he is coping with the circumstances: “Definitely just controlling my emotions, knowing where I’m at and just doing the best to be a role model and lead,” Moore said.
“I let them down as a leader in that moment. In a moment where your captain and leader is supposed to be strong, I let my emotions get the best of me and I just acted out of character. I apologized to them for that and told them that’s not the way we do stuff here and it won’t happen again.“ the talented Safety stated.
Additionally, he reiterated his apologies to the quarterback, reaching out to him through his Instagram account: “My bad, I didn’t mean to be malicious, the game just got away from me.” Moore said that Pavia responded saying that they’re “cool.”
Moore shared his feelings about the loss
After expressing his feelings about the incident involving Diego Pavia, the safety also made it clear how the Alabama team was affected by the tough loss to Vanderbilt and how it will impact their near future. “Losses usually bring a team closer together and I think that’s what’s happening right now,” Moore said.
“Everybody’s gelling together even more than we already were because it’s definitely us against the world. Everybody is self-reflecting and looking in the mirror. There’s not a lot of pointing fingers going on, coaches and players are checking themselves saying ‘What could I have done better?’ That’s important that everyone is taking accountability. We’re all in this together, win or lose.” he finally concluded.
The aftermath of the loss to Vanderbilt
The tough and unexpected loss of Alabama to Vanderbilt had immediate repercussions on the team and staff. Their star quarterback, Jalen Milroe, made a major admission about the final result and how they plan to bounce back moving forward.
“It’s all about how you can reflect and how can you refine and get better. That’s going to be critical for us to have the 24-hour rule. Regroup, refocus. Challenge each other to get better.”, Milroe stated.