Alabama left Nashville with a 21-6 win over Vanderbilt, but the first part of the night looked painfully familiar.
The Crimson Tide stumbled through the opening stretch Saturday, just as it has in too many games this season. Alabama went three-and-out on its first possession, then punted on the next two.
The fourth drive ended with a turnover on downs after quarterback Keelon Russell fell down in the backfield, and the next one turned into more trouble when Russell threw an interception in Alabama territory. Vanderbilt cashed that mistake in for a 3-0 lead.
The Tide eventually settled in, but not before the slow start had already put the game in a rough place. Running back Daniel Hill said the answer is simple, even if the execution hasn’t been.
“Just keep going,” Hill said. “Just keep doing what we’re supposed to do.
Just being ready for the challenge. They came out ready, ready to go, firing.
We just got to be ready.”
Alabama finally found some rhythm on its last possession of the first half. That series ended with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Russell to tight end Marshall Pritchett, and Hill was a big part of the spark. He ripped off runs of 20 and 13 yards to help push the offense down the field.
“The O-line, they’re displacing people on the line of scrimmage,” Hill said of what changed on that drive. “Being physical, doing what they’re supposed to do.”
Those early issues have been a recurring theme for Alabama all year. The defense has often been good enough to let the offense work through the rough patches, but the starts have still created problems. Wide receiver Lotzeir Brooks said that getting out of the gate faster is essential if the Crimson Tide wants to finish the season the way it hopes to.
“Starting fast has been a big thing for us,” Brooks said. “Wehn we start fast, I just feel like we just can’t be beat, can’t be broken. When we start fast, everything’s just in front of us.”
Alabama did open the second half with back-to-back scoring drives to put the game away. After that, though, the offense went quiet again, finishing with three punts and a lost fumble.
Kalen DeBoer said he was pleased to get the win, but he wanted to see Alabama sustain its success for longer stretches against a Vanderbilt team that entered the game with only one SEC victory.
“You’d love to separate yourselves more,” DeBoer said. “We had opportunity at the end of the third and fourth quarters.
Liked what we did at the end of the half. Feel like we go into a little bit of a groove and it extended to third quarter.
We’ve done a good job throughout the course of the year, I think, of finishing and just separating ourselves. That’s the area you want to see better.”
The victory moved Alabama to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in SEC play. Next up is Chattanooga at Bryant-Denny Stadium, where the Crimson Tide will have another chance to start cleaner and avoid another sluggish opening.
In Other News...
Alabamas Seton Hall Win Left One Real Question About This Roster
Alabamas 82-76 win over Seton Hall offered a useful early look at what this roster can be when it starts to click. Amari Allen led the way with 24 points and five assists, and Nate Oats got a chance to keep testing different rotation combinations while the Tide showed better effort on the defensive end than it has at other points.
Seton Hall made things interesting by clawing back from a 17-point deficit, which is the kind of response that can expose where a team still has work to do even in a win. Alabama handled the closing stretch well enough to finish the job, but the bigger takeaway from a non-conference game like this is whether the improved defense and lineup tinkering can hold up once the schedule gets tougher. [Read more 🡒]
Keelon Russell Opened Up About Playing Through Alabamas Biggest Vanderbilt Concern
Alabamas 21-6 win at Vanderbilt came with a little more uncertainty than the final score suggested, and Keelon Russell was right at the center of it. The quarterback entered the week dealing with an injury that left his status in question, then still managed to get on the field and guide the Crimson Tide to a road victory with 217 yards and three touchdowns.
Russell said he pushed himself throughout the week to be ready, which helps explain why Alabama was able to keep its offense steady despite the concern around his availability. For a team that needed him to answer the bell, the bigger question now is how he comes out of that game and what it means for the next stretch of the schedule. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Faces A Late-Season CFP Test It Cannot Afford To Blow
November has a way of turning every ranked matchup into a referendum, and Alabama is right in the middle of that churn as the College Football Playoff picture tightens. With several contenders around the country dealing with injuries, travel issues and the lingering effects of recent results, the margin for error is shrinking fast, and the Tide know they cannot afford a stumble if they want to stay in the thick of the race.
Week 11 brings the kind of pressure-packed setting that can reshape the bracket in a hurry, especially with teams like Notre Dame, Texas, UCLA, Kentucky and Boise State all trying to protect their own positioning. For Alabama, the challenge is less about style points now and more about surviving a late-season test that could determine whether its playoff case stays strong or starts to unravel. [Read more 🡒]