Alabama football realizes ‘we’re human’ in upset loss to Vanderbilt

NASHVILLE, Tenn.––Alabama said all the right things throughout the week. Head coach Kalen DeBoer said he felt like his team had “prepared hard” all week, but when it came to Saturday afternoon’s game in Nashville, it is Vanderbilt’s play on the field that got people talking.

Vanderbilt’s offense intimidated the Alabama defense on the opening possession en route to a 40-35 upset victory over the No. 1 Crimson Tide. Barely a week after knocking off No. 2 Georgia, Alabama fell to an unranked team in front of a crowd mostly filled with Crimson Tide fans. This is only the second time Alabama has lost to an unranked opponent since 2007, and the first loss to Vanderbilt since 1984.

“Of course, it’s frustrating because, who wants to lose?” said Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan after the game. “We have to get back to work. We realized that we are human. We realized that nothing is going to be easy. We have to work for it. It’s about respect and getting back to work. That’s all that we can do. It’s happy to go back to work and be able to go back to work and see how it works.

Alabama wasn’t surprised by the way Vanderbilt played, the Crimson Tide just couldn’t stop him. The Commodores scored on six of their first eight drives and owned the ball for 42:08. Vanderbilt made 75 plays to Alabama’s 46.

“I mean, that’s their style,” DeBoer said. “That’s what they did. They controlled it. They brought the game closer. They’re going to run the clock down, shorten the game. We knew that was going to be the case, we talked about it the whole time. All week I said (Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea) did a great job playing team football, and that’s exactly what they did in places. isolated ones where a guy has to bring down the ball carrier and they’re just slippery enough, especially the quarterback, just to be able to make people miss.

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia finished 16 of 20 for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns with no turnovers. He also totaled 56 yards rushing. Time and time again, Pavie helped the Commodores convert on third down, keeping drives alive to stay on the field and wear down the Alabama defense. Vanderbilt converted 67 percent (12-for-18) of its third-down attempts.

Some of Alabama’s veteran defensive players began to lose their composure and control as the game wore on, including an outburst from captain Malachi Moore in the final minutes. The defense struggled to play disciplined football throughout.

Alabama’s offense had a lot of success on two turnovers – a pick-six in the first quarter and a sack fumble in the fourth quarter. Both were costly, but the offense was able to move the ball when it needed to for the most part.

Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe had his second straight 300-yard performance. He felt like the team did a really good job preparing, but the execution didn’t translate into the game.

“The best thing about football is the opportunities,” Milroe said. “Now we have the opportunity to improve. We have the opportunity to reflect. So it’s going to be very important for us as a group to really channel, recognize that there’s still room to improve and get to the goal. We do our best. I trust the guys in the dressing room, there’s no doubt about it. We just need an opportunity like this to be able to think and build. situation and I know exactly what we need to do. Just continue to follow the same path and have the same mindset.

Alabama players have experience losing in the regular season and need to respond. Last year, the Crimson Tide lost to Texas in Week 2 and rallied to win the SEC and advance to the College Football Playoff. But this is a different kind of loss. Keenan called it a “wake-up call” and said he was glad it happened early in the season so Alabama had time to resolve its issues. And after watching Sunday’s tape, the coaching staff will have a lot to sort out as the Crimson Tide prepare to bring South Carolina to Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“The guys in the locker room, we just said there’s only one option moving forward, getting back to work,” DeBoer said. “I think we have a great football team. We weren’t at our best today. We’re going to find out how much we care about each other and what that looks like moving forward. We have been tested in different “Actually, a lot of games here this season, and it’s a different type of test for us now in our response.”

See also: What Kalen DeBoer said after Alabama’s stunning loss to Vanderbilt

Instant analysis: Vanderbilt 40, No. 1 Alabama 35

Why Alabama chose not to kick in the final minutes of Vanderbilt loss