Jumbo Package: Alabama football at Vanderbilt initial injury report – Roll 'Bama Roll

Your latest Crimson Tide news and notes.
Happy Thursday, everyone. The initial injury report came out per usual, and Alabama is looking healthier than they’ve been in a while.
Defensive back Zabien Brown and quarterback Keelon Russell are both listed as probable along with running back EJ Crowell, defensive back Chuck McDonald III and offensive lineman William Sanders.
Tight end Josh Ford, who is out for the season with an ACL injury, and defensive lineman Mhari Johnson are new Alabama players listed as out for the Vanderbilt game.
Brown played one half of Alabama’s 31-13 road win against LSU, returning from a lower-extremity injury. He had one tackle.
Hate having to see Ford on these for the rest of the season, but Alabama should have no excuse for uneven play this weekend.
As Nick Kelly notes, avoiding a letdown is top priority.
Can Crimson Tide avoid letdown?
Letdown losses have been the theme of 2026 in college football. Beat a ranked team one week, lose to an unranked team the next. That’s not the rule but plenty of teams have shown it’s possible, maybe more so than ever.
Alabama can probably afford not to play its best game and still win. The Commodores are 4-5 and have won only one SEC game all season: a victory over Mississippi State this past week. Still, there’s no need to mess around and find out.
Will Alabama be able to ace this maturity test?
And Katie Windham notes that running the ball is just the thing to get the juices flowing on the road.
Can Alabama offense re-establish run game?
Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb was pretty blunt on Monday. His offense has to find a way to get the run game back on track.
The Crimson Tide hasn’t rushed for more than 100 yards in a game since Week 6 against Georgia. Granted, Alabama has faced two of the best defenses in the SEC during that stretch in Tennessee and LSU. Vanderbilt is ranked 64th in the nation in run defense, so Alabama should be able to run the ball better this weekend.
Freshman EJ Crowell did not play at LSU but was listed as “probable” on Wednesday night’s availability report. He has battled injuries all year but has shown flashes of his talent. If he can get meaningful snaps this Saturday, it would be a boost to the Alabama running game.
Kalen DeBoer is not buying that this Vandy team is a lesser version.
“I can tell by the questions as I go through interviews throughout the course of the week that everyone outside of the building hasn’t watched Vanderbilt. They haven’t watched them. Our guys understand what it looks like. They’re preparing for it, and having a good week of practice right now,” DeBoer said, as relayed by Bama 24/7’s Mike Rodak.
Let’s hope.
Michael Casagrande observes that this year’s playoff committee has differed more from the AP voters, which may cause some of the hand wringing.
In the previous two years, the CFP ranking looked a lot like the AP poll released two days earlier.
In 2026, the CFP’s version varied greatly, and that kind of rhythm disruption can be jarring.
Looking at the top 15 teams in the second week of CFP rankings over this three-year span illustrates that.
Compared side by side, the top 15 varied by 23 spots in Tuesday night’s ranking.
In 2025, it varied by eight spots.
I’m sure there’s something to that, but it’s mostly just that Alabama is ranked highly again. Opposing fanbases are so, so tired of us.
Urban Meyer made a bunch of people angry with this very correct take.
“I think you have to ask yourself, when you look up Miami, if they played a schedule like Alabama and Georgia, where would they be? I really admire Miami, but you look, North Carolina took them to the wall. Florida State probably could have beat them. You stick them in the Southeastern Conference right now, and what is Miami’s record? I wonder if the committee is sitting around saying, okay, is that why. I think on film, Bama’s best version is better than Miami’s, especially with Malachi Toney out,” Meyer said.
Last, with all of the nonsense in the sport nowadays, every once in a while you get a story that reminds of old college football. This next one is one of those, from John Brice at USA Today.
It’s a remarkable rise for a coach who once ran contracts for oil rigs in the nascent days of his yet-to-lift-off career and now operates college football’s stingiest defense.
“It wasn’t on the patch and that type of thing, I worked for a compliance company, above ground and below ground checking storage tanks, is it leaking, are your gas dispensers in proper working condition,” the barrel-chested Nowinsky says. “I literally traveled every single day, running through airports catching planes. It was ridiculous but I got an opportunity to then go back to Mankato and work.”
A football lifer with high school coaching roots in addition to oil-rig boots, Nowinsky now is the coordinator sticking by Eck even as larger programs inquire about his defensive services.
Nowinsky epitomizes the grind that football teaches people, and it’s great to see him tasting success.
That’s about it for now. Have a great day.
Roll Tide.
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Your latest Crimson Tide news and notes.
The Bama offense got back on track against LSU. Can they keep it up and not look past the Commodores?
The Tide rolled in Baton Rouge.
Alabama’s 31-13 win over LSU wasn’t pretty in efficiency stats, but the Red Zone numbers tell a fascinating story.
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