Takeaways From Vanderbilt Football's 30-14 Loss to No. 10 Alabama
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TUSCALOOSA, AL–Vanderbilt fell 30-14 to No. 10 Alabama on Saturday as it moved to 5-1 on the season in a game defined by College Gameday buzz.
The Commodores left plenty on the table in their 16-point loss. Here's a breakdown of it.
Vanderbilt had its chances, but didn’t play true to character
It wasn’t as much a matter of talent on Saturday as it was Vanderbilt not taking chances that could’ve led to it finding a way to win.
Diego Pavia turned it over twice in the red zone and seemingly sealed Vanderbilt’s fate with an interception that came in the early fourth quarter and took away a chance for it to go ahead with a touchdown. Add a few drops and some off-brand struggles to possess the ball in there and that was all that Saturday wrote for Vanderbilt.
It wasn’t a matter of Alabama being significantly more talented or physically imposing than Vanderbilt. It was one team being better than the other.
Ty Simpson and Alabama’s wide receivers proved plenty about Vanderbilt’s secondary
As College Gameday betting analyst Steve “Stanford” Coughlin addressed Vanderbilt’s matchup with Alabama on Friday, he never hesitated in regard to the biggest question mark that could dictate the game.
“I think it's Vanderbilt's secondary,” Coughlin said. “They haven't seen anything like what Alabama brings to the table.”
Vandy on SI learned that Vanderbilt’s secondary heard the comment and took exception to it, but it didn’t prove it wrong on Saturday. Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson completed 23 of his 31 passes for 340 yards, two touchdowns and eight “big” plays.
In some ways, it was the opposite of what Vanderbilt beat Alabama with last season
Vanderbilt was nearly flawless as it took down No. 1 Alabama this time last year and it did it in the way that Lea had designed.
Alabama possessed the ball for 37:23 as opposed to Vanderbilt’s 22:37. It only turned it over once while Vanderbilt did three times. It did the things that the less talented team has to do, and it wasn’t the less talented team.
Kalen DeBoer’s team approached Vanderbilt with the proper intensity and won in the margins as a result.
Bryant Denny Stadium continues to be a house of horrors for this program
Vanderbilt hadn’t won here since 1984 and will have to wait at least another two seasons before doing that.
This team has broken plenty of streaks, but this one still stands.
An abysmal second half
Vanderbilt was outscored 16-0 in the second half after heading into half tied 14-14 and possessing a 14-7 lead prior to Alabama’s late-half drive.
That number wasn’t misleading, either.
Vanderbilt ran for just nine yards in the second half on 1.1 yards per carry. It was outpossessed 19:00 to 11:00. It also lost the turnover battle 2-0. Lea’s team looked like it belonged early, but didn’t after the break.
Vanderbilt’s defense finally started strong
Alabama was marching until Martel Hight picked off Simpson on fourth down to give Vanderbilt the ball inside its own 10.
Perhaps the play wasn’t all that exceptional and neither was the drive itself, but it represented a needed change for this Vanderbilt team. It had given up scoring drives in the first two drives of its game on four of its first five contests.
Vanderbilt had to make a splash early and it did as a result of what Hight did.
Sedrick Alexander CAN break away
The idea that Alexander doesn’t have enough speed to do what he did early in Saturday’s game has been popular since his arrival on Vanderbilt’s campus in 2023. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, though.
Alexander had Vanderbilt’s longest play from scrimmage this season on its first drive of the day and gave the Commodores a 7-0 lead over Alabama. Perhaps most impressively, he put his foot in the ground and broke away from all the Alabama defenders that attempted to chase him down.
It showed a level of explosiveness that Alexander hasn’t previously and indicated that there’s more to his game than what he’s shown to this point. Alexander’s run was important to Vanderbilt in the grand scheme of Saturday’s game, but it was likely more important to his individual rèsumè.
Pavia’s fumble made it much harder on Vanderbilt
Pavia passed the Alabama 10 yard line with the ball in his hand and a chance to make it 14-0 if he made a few guys miss, but instead Alabama linebacker Justin Jefferson ripped the ball out of Pavia’s hands.
Alabama recovered and turned Vanderbilt over before going on a 12-play, 92 yard drive that ended in a Ryan Williams touchdown.
Vanderbilt was likely never going to run away with this thing, but the swing from a potential 14-0 game to a 7-7 game–in which Alabama had the momentum–mattered in the grand scheme of this thing.
Vanderbilt doesn’t believe that you should give up on it after that
All three players that Vanderbilt made available to the media after the game indicated that they still believe they’re the best team in the country and that Saturday’s game doesn’t define them.
It’s not dead statistically, either.
This Vanderbilt team can likely reach most of its goals as a two-loss team. This one hurt it, but it doesn’t have to end its season.
_(1)-b3e453dfe426b2dd4b83a12540ebdb37.jpeg "Joey Dwyer")
Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Southeastern 16 and Mainstreet Nashville.
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