Vanderbilt Football Preseason Game Prediction: Alabama – Sports Illustrated

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Everyone remembers what took place the last time Vanderbilt football hosted Alabama in Nashville. It was October 2024 and the Crimson Tide was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country. Until Vanderbilt pulled off the unthinkable.
That was in the past, though, as both sides moved on from that day a long time ago. But this fall, Vanderbilt gets another opportunity to host Alabama in what could perhaps be a trap game given how Alabama has played on the road under head coach Kalen DeBoer.
Alabama will roll into Nashville this November with new faces all around. Most notably will be the starting quarterback. Just like Vanderbilt, the Crimson Tide have yet to name a starting quarterback for the 2026 season. It will be either Keelon Russell or Austin Mack.
Alabama only has three starters on offense returning with wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams leading that short list. But it did go to work on adding offensive pieces with highly-touted recruits wide receiver Cederian Morgan and running back Ezavier Crowell. Alabama also added a few offensive lineman through the transfer portal as well as former NC State wide receiver Noah Rogers.
Defensively, Alabama will have plenty of new faces as well with just four returning starters on defense. Like what it did on offense, Alabama did bring in high-quality recruits as well as a few defensive transfers.
The new guys starting on both sides of the ball sets up for what seems to be yet another intriguing matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Commodores. Here are a couple early keys to the game and a game prediction.
When both of these teams take the field, the development and chemistry on both sides will have nearly reached its peak. The traits and tendencies of both teams will be established.
But with an early look at the matchup, one thing that could help Vanderbilt pull off another home win over Alabama this fall would be dismantling the Alabama offensive line. The Crimson Tide only has one returning starter on its offensive front, which has created a lot of questions about how tough Alabama will be up front this season. 
So, if Vanderbilt is able to expose that by breaking that down, the Commodores give themselves a great chance. Based on last season’s numbers, Vanderbilt was a top 20 run defense. If it is able to repeat anywhere close to those numbers, it gives itself a stark advantage over an Alabama front that still has a lot of questions about whether it can run the ball or not.
When Vanderbilt is on offense is where the game can get tricky. The Crimson Tide’s defense is expected to be more of its strength this season. With a first-year starter at quarterback, that could pose an issue against a tough defense. Offensively for Vanderbilt, though, it will have to establish the run. On what could be a strong Alabama defense, Vanderbilt could find something that works against the Crimson Tide’s rushing defense.
Under DeBoer, Alabama has not been good in these types of situations. On the road in the SEC has been a huge struggle for two years now. Alabama has seen the upsets and the narrow road escapes.
This is a game where it could be more believable that Vanderbilt could win compared to the last time Alabama came to town. The difference this time, though, is Alabama is certain to have far more respect for what Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea is building.
Vanderbilt will have its chances to go ahead late in the game, but Alabama’s secondary will force the Commodores into a mistake late in the game and escape with a win.
Score Prediction: Alabama 27, Vanderbilt 21
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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