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NASHVILLE—Clark Lea declared Thursday that he wasn’t focused on what happened in this stadium the last time Alabama was here and that he was solely focused on beating Alabama on Saturday. He’ll reflect on it in 20 years sitting in a calm place when that night is a distant memory, but not now.
Lea was reflective enough to recall what this Vanderbilt team could learn from that showing, though. The circumstances entering that matchup weren’t all that different than the ones entering this one. Vanderbilt was a heavy underdog in both. Alabama entered that 2024 matchup coming off of a statement win over Georgia and appears to be in a similar position following its 31-13 win over LSU in Baton Rouge. More importantly, Vanderbilt knew that if it had to follow the same formula that it did a few years ago if was going to win again Saturday.
To Lea, that required the three phases interlocking, a physical run game and sustaining the good performance that allowed Vanderbilt to get out to a big lead early. He hoped that his team would do that again.
Let’s check in on how that went in Vanderbilt’s 21-6 Saturday loss to No. 3 Alabama.
Three phases interlocked?
Vanderbilt held Alabama to seven points in the first half, Brock Taylor made a 52-yard field goal and Vanderbilt punter Tyler Ebel was on fire. But, Vanderbilt’s offense generated just 32 yards in the first half relative to its 52 penalty yards. It went for -17 yards on its only scoring drive of the half. Vanderbilt gave up a touchdown late in the first half and that was really all that needed to happen for Alabama to win on Saturday.
It moved the ball at times, but its offense was outclassed entirely by Alabama’s defense. As a result, Vanderbilt’s offense invalided a defensive performance as strong as it’s had all season.
“We just weren’t able to capitalize offensively,” Lea said. “It just felt like a mess on offense.”
How about a physical run game?
Vanderbilt ran the ball for just 12 yards on Saturday, and 39 yards without sacks included. It went for 0.5 yards per carry with sacks included and 2.2 without sacks included. Perhaps more noteworthy than the averages and total yardage was Vanderbilt’s lack of a commitment to the run game–and particularly the physical run game–as a whole.
A number of the attempts Vanderbilt actually did have at running the ball were east and west rather than north and south. Most of those runs were unsuccessful. When Vanderbilt did hand it to Sedrick Alexander, he gave it 4.5 yards per carry. It didn't invest much volume into him–or its downhill running game as a whole–though.
“There wasn't anything in terms of the game circumstances that kept us from running the ball, it was the sloppiness in our operation,” Lea said. “We weren't able to avoid the operational penalties and so setting up second and long, first and long, gave way to throws that gave way to third and long that gave way stops.”
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Good play early and sustaining it throughout the course of the game?
It looked like Vanderbilt could keep pace with Alabama in the first half of Saturday’s game, but then Alabama pulled away from it down the stretch.
Vanderbilt also had masterful playcalling, dynamic quarterback play, great play up front, stayed on schedule offensively, a few turnovers that swung the game in its favor, dominance in the time of possession margin and a little magic in the air on its side that October day in 2024.
Saturday, Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck positioned the Vanderbilt offense as poorly as he has all season. Jared Curtis actually played well, but Vanderbilt didn’t support him the way it needed to in order to equip him with a path to win. MK Young attributed a number of Vanderbilt’s problems to getting behind the sticks and having to air it out to move the ball. Vanderbilt’s recently-converted cornerback Dontae Carter picked off a Keelon Russell pass deep in Alabama territory, but Vanderbilt couldn’t turn it into a touchdown. Alabama won the time of possession battle 30:29-to-26:57.
As for the magic, a microcosm of the lack of it was Shaboozey’s song Tipsy playing on the loudspeaker to a largely apathetic crowd. When it was played the last time Alabama was here, Vanderbilt’s crowd was on the field jumping around and singing.
Saturday didn’t end that way, though. Vanderbilt played a game that may have been as good as any as it’s played all season, but at no point after half time did it feel like Vanderbilt was going to shock the world on Saturday. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t do what that 2024 team did.
Instead, it did what this 2026 team does far too often.
“It’s always Vanderbilt football beating Vanderbilt football,” Vanderbilt running back MK Young said postgame.
That 2024 Vanderbilt team seemingly never did that. It rarely lost because of lack of execution and instead lost as a result of a lack of overall talent. That team had what this team doesn't. A star quarterback in Diego Pavia that was good enough to promote the idea that he had more to do with the program's success than Lea did. It had a swagger and a belief. It had something to it that made you never count it out. This team doesn't. That's why it lost Saturday, not because two-loss Alabama is some world beater in 2026.
Vanderbilt racked up 14 penalties for 92 yards, was 1-for-4 on fourth down, didn’t score a touchdown on any of its three red-zone trips, scored just three points off of the two turnovers its defense generated and lost the line of scrimmage significantly. That's why it lost in the way it did, not because of Alabama's sudden prowess.
In the process, it demonstrated that it’s closer to what it was as a 2-10 team in 2023 than what it was in that 2024 bowl season. All the things that the bowl team in 2024 did well, this team struggles to do with any sort of consistency. When that happens in the fallout of the best two-year run in program history, it necessitates change. Lea knows it and appears to be prepared to make changes. Saturday was merely another piece of evidence in favor of that.
“It feels like the same old story,” Lea said. “Obviously a tough day for us.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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