Vanderbilt Player Claims Commodores Will 'Dominate Down There in Tuscaloosa'

Alabama football is used to opponents giving the Crimson Tide bulletin board material before the game.

Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander is the latest to talk smack about Alabama, and he did so shortly before Saturday's ranked showdown in Tuscaloosa.

“[I] feel good about my team," Alexander told Vanderbilt Hustler's Tristan Rutman. "I feel like we’re going to go dominate down there in Tuscaloosa,” Alexander said. “I feel like we have the best coaching staff [and the] best players in the country, so I feel like we’re going to do great things.”

Part of this quote stems from Vanderbilt defeating Alabama 40-35 last season in Nashville. Alexander put up a very solid performance that evening as he rushed for 64 yards on 21 carries and scored two touchdowns during the historic upset.

Alexander has rushed for 243 yards and four touchdowns on 46 carries this season. He's averaging an impressive 5.3 yards per carry, but he's not the only runner to worry about on Saturday.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia is averaging 6.1 yards per carry with 294 yards and two touchdowns through five games this season. He had 56 rushing yards during last year's game to go along with 252 passing yards and two touchdowns. Like Alexander, Pavia has also added bulletin board material this week.

“I don’t know what they’re doing," Pavia told On3's Chris Low. I just focus on us, but I know we’ve got to bring it. That’s for sure,” Pavia said. “The crowd, I think, is going to be a big factor in the game. But we just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close.”

Alabama has lost five home games since 2010. One of those losses came to Texas A&M and quarterback Johnny Manziel in 2012. Pavia has been working with the Heisman Trophy winner lately and Manziel has given him some advice and motivation ahead of Saturday.

"I beat them once. Diego’s got a chance to beat them twice. That’s the kind of s--t they build statues for,” Manziel told Low.

Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer and company will face a Vanderbilt team that ranks No. 16 in the nation.

"Coach [Clark] Lea, a ton of respect for him, I’ve known him for a long time," DeBoer said on Monday. "I knew a year ago, you could see and feel the positive movement that they had inside the program. You could see the style of play, it being team football. They continue to do that.

"5-0, a ranked opponent coming into our house. Just got to continue to keep the focus on us. Have to keep ignoring the noise, that’s been a huge strength that’s become of our football team, and they’ve got to continue to do that. Some guys continue to learn what it takes to come each and every week to play football here in the SEC.”

Kickoff between No. 10 Alabama and No. 16 Vanderbilt in Bryant-Denny Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.

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