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No. 3 Alabama will travel to Vanderbilt on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. CT for its third-to-last game of the regular season.
The Crimson Tide (7-2, 5-2 SEC) and Commodores (4-5,1-5 SEC) aren't exactly going down the same road this season, and this shouldn't be much of a problem for Alabama. That said, UA lost to Vanderbilt 40-35 in a historic upset the last time it was in Nashville during the 2024 season.
Kalen DeBoer, coordinators Ryan Grubb and Kane Wommack and Alabama players have stressed throughout the week that Clark Lea and this Vanderbilt team are much more dangerous than their record shows.
Both teams consist of several players who will have a major impact in determining the final score. Here are three matchups that will decide Alabama at Vanderbilt.
For lack of a better term, Vanderbilt's passing offense is quite predictable. Wide receiver Tristen Brown is second on the team in receptions (17) and receiving yards (228), which is about 40 fewer catches and 500 fewer receiving yards than first-place Junior Sherrill, who also leads Vanderbilt with four touchdown grabs.
Sherrill's four receptions in Week 1 were his fewest this season, as he's hauled in anywhere from 5-8 targets ever since. He's had just two contests with under 60 yards, with a 107-yard (and a touchdown) performance against now-No. 1 Georgia being one of his best outings. The Georgia game was one of his five games with at least 90 receiving yards.
Sherrill lines up as an X and Z receiver, meaning Alabama outside cornerbacks Zabien Brown and Dijon Lee Jr. will have their hands full on Saturday. Brown, who is probable to face the Commodores, missed the Texas A&M game following a first-half injury against Tennessee, and he sat out the second half of last week against LSU due to the lingering lower-body injury.
Lee has had an up-and-down sophomore year, with a lot of highs and a lot of lows. But Saturday against Sherrill will be a good test for him. Lee emphasized on Tuesday that Sherrill's just as threatening when ball isn't in his hands, too.
"Physical receiver. Real good at the line of scrimmage. Good with his hand-fighting," Lee said. "Just another week, of course, but just taking him out of the game, being able to eliminate him, that's going to be a big part of their offense. On the back end, we've got to do what we have to do."
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After rough performances in the losses to Georgia and Tennessee, Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell hit his stride against Texas A&M and LSU, combining for six touchdown passes and one interception. The sophomore has had trouble in some road environments, but he thrived in Baton Rouge last week, throwing for three touchdowns — after hurting his ankle.
Russell is probable to face the Commodores, but chances are he isn't 100 percent healthy. Barring something crazy — like the last time Alabama went to Vanderbilt — the Crimson Tide likely won't have to rely on Russell's arm and legs from start to finish, as bleeding out the clock with UA's running backs should do the trick.
Vanderbilt allows 29.4 points per game, which ranks 110th of 138 FBS teams. Nevertheless, there are a couple of bright spots on the defense, including safety CJ Heard. The junior leads the Commodores in tackles with 64 and is fourth in tackles for loss with 4.0. This is a defensive back who gets behind the line of scrimmage, as he's recorded three sacks.
Heard is also a threat at the third level. In addition to forcing two fumbles, he's hauled in an interception and has six pass breakups. Simply put, he'll have his eyes on Russell all day long, hoping to limit one of the most electric players in college football.
“[I] feel good about my team. I feel like we’re going to go dominate down there in Tuscaloosa. I feel like we have the best coaching staff [and the] best players in the country, so I feel like we’re going to do great things.”
The quote above is from last year's Alabama-Vanderbilt matchup, and the lines were said by Commodores running back Sedrick Alexander. He scored two touchdowns during the historic 2024 upset in Nashville, so his confidence was understandable. Alexander logged a 65-yard touchdown run early in the 2025 bout, but only added 11 more yards and three more carries the rest of the way.
Alexander is leading Vanderbilt in the run game once again this year, rushing for 333 yards and six touchdowns on 85 attempts (3.9 yards per carry). He could cause some problems against Alabama's run defense, which struggled in the second half against Georgia, plus the entire Tennessee game.
The Tide didn't have nose tackle Terrance Green during those losses, but his return against LSU showed why he's so pivotal to stopping the run. Alabama will need him against a running back who's so familiar with the system.
"It's always great to have players back, but when you look at what TG does for us in the middle, the first play of the [LSU] game we line up in an odd front, and he wears their center out and makes the play, it just kind of sets the tone from a physicality standpoint, from how you want to attack us in the run game," Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said on Monday.
"We were really consistent against the run throughout the day, but like the A and B gaps and all that stuff, I thought we did a really nice job, just being physical in there, mudding it up. So TG's done a good job in that regard. I think he's gotten continually better in his pass rush."
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Hunter De Siver is the lead basketball writer for BamaCentral and has covered Crimson Tide football since 2024. He previously distributed stories about the NFL and NBA for On SI and was a staff writer for Missouri Tigers On SI and Cowbell Corner. Before that, Hunter generated articles highlighting Crimson Tide products in the NFL and NBA for BamaCentral as an intern in 2022 and 2023. Hunter is a graduate from the University of Alabama, earning a degree in sports media in 2023.
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