No. 10 Alabama says it's more about handling success against 16th-ranked Vanderbilt

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — No. 10 Alabama surely wants some measure of revenge against Vanderbilt, even if players and coaches won't acknowledge it.

The Crimson Tide host the surprising and 16th-ranked Commodores on Saturday — and insist they won't get blindsided again.

A year ago, the Tide followed a win over fellow Southeastern Conference power Georgia with a 40-35 loss at Vanderbilt as three-touchdown favorites. That stunning setback played a part in keeping Alabama out of the College Football Playoff.

Coming off another victory against the Bulldogs, Vandy is up next again. How is Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) approaching this one?

“You’ve got to handle success and come back every single week in this league,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We didn’t handle success last year well. You can’t argue that. ... Our success that we had (against Georgia), none of it matters. None of it carries over. Every game is its own game.”

Added Bama tight end Josh Cuevas: “We're not too worried about last season. Last season's last season. Just moving forward, taking the next step, this new year, just kind of keeping within the team and doing what we're doing and playing our game.”

Vanderbilt’s situation is considerably different a year later. The Commodores (5-0, 1-0) may have been overlooked in 2024, but they sit near the top of the SEC standings after the first month of the season.

Vandy is off to its best start since 2008, with each win coming by at least 20 points. Coach Clark Lea and quarterback Diego Pavia have led a campaign of a “New Vanderbilt” since last year, and now there’s evidence of a tangible shift.

“Last season was important for us in terms of getting some of those breakthrough moments to see, ‘Hey, this is something we can do,’” Lea said. “I think this season has been about the confidence to dominate, to have a dominant mindset when we take the field.”

The game features the two highest-rated passers in the SEC, with Pavia’s 184.6 pass efficiency rating topping the league just ahead of Ty Simpson’s 173.1. Both rank in the top 15 nationally.

Simpson is completing 82% of his passes over his last three games, with nine touchdowns and no interceptions. His 11 TDs are third in the SEC, and he has zero turnovers. On the other side, Pavia tied a Vanderbilt school record with five TD passes last Saturday and ran for another. His 13 TD passes are tied for first in the SEC and rank fifth nationally.

An area to watch will be the run game. Vanderbilt gashed Alabama for 166 yards on the ground last year and boasts one of the SEC’s best rushing attacks in 2025.

The Commodores rank first in the league with 6.49 yards a carry and 18 rushing touchdowns and are second with 1,117 yards rushing and 223.4 yards a game on the ground. Defensively, Vanderbilt is allowing the third-fewest yards rushing a game, at 79.8.

Conversely, Alabama has one the worst rushing offenses and defenses in the SEC. The Tide rank near the bottom of the league in nearly every rushing category on both sides of the ball.

Both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25 for their matchup for the first time since 1937. Alabama won that Thanksgiving game 9-7, with the Tide ranked No. 4 and Vanderbilt No. 12.

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