What We Learned from Alabama's Gritty Win at Vanderbilt: Tide Takeaways

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–– The College Football Playoff committee has displayed a lot of faith in Alabama, ranking the Crimson Tide No. 3 in the nation. Alabama did not look like a top-three team, particularly on offense, on the road at Vanderbilt on Saturday, but the Crimson Tide did enough to keep its playoff hopes alive.

Despite initial reports that Keelon Russell would not start against the Commodores, he directed three touchdown drives to lead No. 3 Alabama to a 21-6 win at Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon.

This game presented a maturity test for the Crimson Tide after an emotional win at LSU last week. Despite a rough performance, Alabama avoided a letdown loss and improves to 8-2 (6-2 SEC) with just home games against Chattanooga and Auburn remaining.

Here are five of my biggest takeaways from Saturday's win for the latest edition of Tide Takeaways:

THAT is what a "Swarm D" should look like

Alabama's defense put together its most complete performance of the season. It was the lowest points total allowed this year.

Vanderbilt had 32 yards at halftime. The Commodores finished with 235 total yards and just 12 rushing yards. The only reason they scored six points was because of the strong leg of kicker Brock Taylor connecting on attempts of 52 and 57 yards. One of those field goals came after an interception gave Vandy the ball at the Alabama 17-yard line, and the defense pushed the Commodores back 17 yards behind the initial line of scrimmage.

The last time Alabama played at Vanderbilt, the Crimson Tide could not get off the field in the 40-35 loss in 2024. The Commodores went 12-for-18 on third downs and possessed the ball for more than 42 minutes. Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer emphasized the importance of getting off the field through the week, and Kane Wommack's defense answered the call.

This time, Vanderbilt was 2 of 15 on third downs and 1-for-4 on fourth downs.

"The defense is attacking, really not playing hesitant at all in those big moments," DeBoer said after the game. "Third down, fourth down, holding them to field goals that continued to be the case again today. So really like the way they're flying around. Getting pressure at the right times. It helps when the personnel up front is doing what they are doing. Playing good team football on that side of the ball, for sure."

The defense tied a season high with five sacks. While the offense sputtered, Wommack's "Swarm D" didn't budge and kept the Crimson Tide in the game.

"Credit the defense," Russell said after the game. "Those guys are who really gave us the momentum. I don't even know how many stops they got in the red zone, but those guys kept piling up, kept getting those stops and gave us the confidence to go out there and keep scoring."

Bad bookends to a mighty middle

Alabama put together three straight touchdown drives in the middle of the game, beginning with the final drive of the first half. The Crimson Tide came out of the half strong with touchdowns on the next two possessions, but there wasn't much good offensively before or after those three possessions.

Daniel Hill finished with 89 rushing yards on 14 carries, his best performance since Game 2 at Kentucky. Half of his carries and 47 of his yards came during that stretch of three straight touchdown drives. Outside of those possessions, Alabama really struggled to run the ball again. The rest of the team combined for 21 carries for three yards (that yardage does include the three sacks Russell took and Austin Mack's three kneel-downs at the end of the game.)

Starting fast has been a consistent issue for the Crimson Tide with an opening touchdown drive occurring just once in 10 games. However, Alabama had finished games well the previous two matchups against LSU and Texas A&M. That wasn't the case on Saturday as Alabama was held scoreless in the fourth quarter for just the third time this season. (The other two occasions were in the two losses against Georgia and Tennessee.)

"We've done a good job throughout the course of the year, I think, of finishing and just separating ourselves," DeBoer said. "That's the area you want to see better. Some good performances. Thought Daniel ran really hard, did a nice job there. That was important for us. I thought Keelon found ways to impact the game even just on minimal opportunities or reps throughout the course of the week."

As DeBoer mentioned, Russell had limited reps with the offense throughout the week, and it showed in Saturday's game. Vanderbilt is a tough team, but not good enough of an opponent to take advantage of two quarters of a basically nonexistent Alabama offense. That's probably the case with the next two opponents as well, but it will not work that way if the Tide wants to have success in the postseason.

Turnover streak ends

Alabama has been one of the best teams in the country at creating takeaways. For the first time this season, the Crimson Tide finished with zero turnovers forced, snapping a nine-game streak.

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"We didn't get the takeaways, and I know they're going to be really frustrated about that," DeBoer said. "We lost the turnover battle, and that's a big deal for us. We gave up the two, and those are never at a good time. On the other end, we didn't get them. We'll continue to go back to work as a team to make sure that that is the emphasis, that we win that battle."

It was just the second time in 10 games this season that Alabama lost the turnover battle. The Tide turned it over twice with Russell responsible for both (one fumble and one interception.)

Alabama's defense did get two fourth-down stops, but a turnover on downs does not technically count as a turnover statistically.

The Crimson Tide is at its best when the defense is feeding into the offense. And as good as the defense was on Saturday, it never got the takeaway that could completely flip the momentum.

Special teams sparks offense

Earlier in the week, Alabama defensive back Dijon Lee talked about how much fun he has playing on special teams as the kickoff returner. That aspect of his game made a major impact for the Crimson Tide on Saturday.

After Taylor's 57-yard field goal cut Alabama's lead to 14-6, Lee returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards down to the Vanderbilt 12-yard line to set up the offense in great field position for its third and final touchdown of the game.

BIG return for the Tide!

📺: SEC Network pic.twitter.com/t6lvzJu4Yn
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) November 14, 2026

"We felt like there was an opportunity if we got one of those kicks that we could get some good field position. And it went above and beyond. It was great to see Dijon hit it the way he did. Seems like when he's gotten those opportunities, he's done a really good job. But all the guys have got to block hard and staying away from the penalties on those returns, even with Ryan's. I think that's what I really appreciate about our guys. They're using the technique that they need to. They're giving great effort and then those playmakers like Dijon, like Ryan, are doing the rest when they get those chances."

Last week against LSU, Ryan Coleman-Williams had a big punt return that set up a touchdown for the offense, and he had an 18-yard return on Saturday in Nashville.

When the offense is struggling, the special teams is helping set up the offense in good positions.

"That set us up great," Alabama wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks said of Lee's kickoff return. "He’s been working, too, on the kick returns. He’s been averaging a lot of yards. Every time he gets a kick return, that just turns us up to another level, and we appreciate him for that.”

Alabama is still searching for its first special teams touchdown of the season, but the return game has been knocking on the door the last few weeks, and the next game against Chattanooga could be a great opportunity for it to happen.

Keelon Russell is a fighter

Alabama's young quarterback has showcased his talent many times throughout the season. He displayed his toughness at LSU to finish the game with an ankle injury. And against Vanderbilt, Russell showed that he'll do whatever it takes to be on the field with his teammates.

"I wanted to play as bad as anyone else on this team, so I was trying my best to just go out there and do my best and get on the field," Russell said. "It worked today, and we've just got to come out next week and do better."

Saturday was not Russell's best performance, yet he still completed 67 percent of his passes and threw for three more touchdowns. Even with a tweaked ankle, Russell put his body on the line for his team because he wants to give Alabama the best chance to win.

"Probably just a few things early in the game, I felt he wasn't probably sharp on, as to be expected," DeBoer said of Russell's performance. "I think other ways we could have helped him out a little bit more. But as the game went on there in the middle of the second, it felt like he was starting to kind of find his groove and into the third quarter for sure. I think he did a good job because it showed up with the things that they're doing and things that they were going to show us that he was ready mentally for whatever he had to do."

Will Alabama call on Russell to do the same thing next game against Chattanooga? We probably won't know until game time. DeBoer likes to keep injury updates close to the chest, and there won't be any availability reports since it's a non-conference matchup.

Russell has made it clear that he wants to be on the field, but Alabama has to weigh what's best for the player and team moving forward with postseason goals looming overhead.

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