The Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs played two unforgettable September games this season and last. Both times, Kalen DeBoer’s football team bested Kirby Smart’s, moving the latter’s record against his old team to 1-7.
The Tuscaloosa News’ Colin Gay noted the stark difference between this year and last year’s: 2025 Alabama has already suffered a worst-case fate, losing 31-17 to the Florida State Seminoles.
And as Gay and Ty Simpson have stressed, this team won’t let a laissez-faire attitude lead to another loss to a Vanderbilt Commodores squad that’s no longer under the radar. The Commodores come to Tuscaloosa on Saturday, ranked No. 16. A win over the Crimson Tide would likely mean being ranked in the top 10 for the first time in Vanderbilt football program history.
“This Alabama team is not the same Alabama team that faced the Commodores in Nashville in 2024. This Alabama team has already been humbled, falling to then-unranked Florida State on the road, a game that seemingly left all preseason hope for a deep College Football Playoff run trampled under the feet of field-storming Seminoles fans,” Gay wrote.
“The Commodores are no longer the shock of the SEC. Vanderbilt entered Week 5 as the No. 20 team in the country. Diego Pavia and company have five wins, outscoring opponents 245-86 including then-ranked No. 10 South Carolina who the Commodores beat 31-7 on the road.”
FSU was able to propel to the No. 8 ranking solely because it beat Alabama. A 46-38 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers last Friday in Charlottesville has many wondering if that team was a one-win wonder, with the Miami Hurricanes coming to town on Saturday. The Crimson Tide’s Week 1 loss not only became more humbling in Week 5, but it became more harmful to their College Football Playoff resume.
No matter. Glory may be restored for the “Bama Standard” after marching into Sanford Stadium and knocking off the Bulldogs 24-21 in a game Alabama largely controlled. There’s no more impressive road win for any school this season. The Oregon Ducks upsetting the Penn State Nittany Lions in a 30-24 instant classic would be better competition if James Franklin wasn’t known for losing the big one, time and again.
Last year, the Commodores caught the Crimson Tide coming off an emotional roller coaster of a 41-34 win over UGA. This time, DeBoer is already battle-tested with his right-hand man, Ryan Grubb, who had the play-calling game of his life against Georgia on Saturday, and Vanderbilt is catching nobody by surprise.
The Commodores are walking into hostile territory. More hostile, at Bryant-Denny Stadium, because Alabama football may be back.