Upon Further Review: Alabama 30, Vanderbilt 14

The final word on Vanderbilt’s first loss of the season against Alabama, plus 10 things you may not have noticed.

Oct 4, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores tight end Cole Spence (16) carries the ball during the second half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images | David Leong-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Vanderbilt football lost its first game of the season on Saturday with a 30-14 loss to Alabama. The score does not do justice with how close the game was. Alabama made it a 16-point game with 17 seconds to go off a Jam Miller touchdown, but Vanderbilt showed it could compete with top teams despite the loss.

The Commodores went into the locker room tied at halftime at 14 apiece. After half, Vanderbilt’s offense could not get much going. It got an early first down to start the third quarter, but proceeded to go three-and-out later that drive and the next possession. Vanderbilt mustered just nine rushing yards in the second half and 119 total yards in the final two quarters. 

Red zone turnovers were also a major difference in the game. Quarterback Diego Pavia threw an interception in the red zone and fumbled the ball in the red zone in the game. Alabama capitalized on those mistakes by turning the two turnovers into 10 points.

Though it did lose, Vanderbilt’s goals and aspirations are still within reach. With a 12-team playoff, one loss is not going to ruin a team’s chances of making the playoffs, especially in the SEC. The Commodores, now at 5-1, head into their first bye of the season before taking on LSU.

Here is the play of the game, player of the game and stat of the game for Vanderbilt and 10 things you may not have noticed from the game.

Play of the Game: Play of the game, in my mind, goes to Sedrick Alexander’s 65-yard touchdown run. Not only did his explosive play put Vanderbilt ahead early in the game, but it gave Vanderbilt the confidence that it could hang tough in a hostile environment and allowed itself to settle into the game pretty quickly. 

Player of the Game: Have to give it to cornerback Martel High here. Hight came away with five total tackles, four of them solo in addition to his interception off of  Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson in the first possession of the game.

Stat of the Game: Vanderbilt had nearly as many solo tackles (46) as Alabama did total tackles (47). Alabama’s offense was on the field for the majority of the game, flipping the script from a year ago.

10 things you may not have noticed

1. No Push, No Rush Yards: Vanderbilt’s offensive line could not get much push in the second half against Alabama’s defensive line. As a result, Vanderbilt only ran for nine yards in the second half.

2. Red Zone: Vanderbilt did not take advantage while Alabama did, and that was a big difference. The Commodores came away with points in just one of three trips to the red zone while Alabama scored points on all five.

3. Time of Possession: Vanderbilt beat Alabama in 2024 by controlling the clock. This year, Alabama beat Vanderbilt that same way. The Crimson Tide had the ball for 37:23 to 22:37.

4. Turnover Streak Continues: Vanderbilt did a nice job forcing Ty Simpson and Alabama’s first turnover of the season. Martel Hight’s interception made it the sixth consecutive game to start the season in which Vanderbilt forced a turnover. 

5. Not as Many Big Plays: Vanderbilt had three rushes go for 10 yards for a total of 112 yards. 65 of those yards came on Alexander’s touchdown run. The Commodores also had runs of 36 yards and 11 yards from Diego Pavia.

6. Explosive Passing Plays: Pavia completed four passes of at least 15 yards through the first three quarters. Three of those four went for 15 yards exactly. His longest pass of the game went for 33 yards to tight end Cole Spence.

7. Fewer Opportunities: Because Alabama dominated the time of possession, Vanderbilt had just 55 plays of offense compared to 69 from Alabama.

8. Yards Per Play: The two schools had nearly identical yards per play averages. Alabama averaged 7.0 yards per play while Vanderbilt averaged 6.1 yards per play.

9. Rushing Defense: Vanderbilt’s rushing defense did not do too bad at all. Though Alabama finished with 146 rush yards, the Commodores held them to just 3.8 yards per carry on 38 attempts.

10. Backdoor Cover: Vanderbilt came into the game as 10.5-point underdogs and played like a team that earned respect from the college football world. But Jam Miller’s rushing touchdown to end the game ended up making Alabama cover the spread.