Alabama players aren't concerned by 'you're next' remarks
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The message was received. The response is pending.
Following Vanderbilt’s 14-7 upset victory over then-ranked No. 18 Kansas State on Saturday, Commodores defensive lineman Nifae Lealeo excitedly delivered a statement to any teams visiting Vanderbilt Stadium this season, including No. 1 Alabama who is making the trip to Nashville this weekend.
"When you come to our house, we show you how to play some SEC ball,” Lealeo told television station WSMV News 4. “It don't matter where you from. You're going to know what ball we play. We're going into next week ranked. That's fine. Alabama, you're next."
Alabama players immediately took notice. Defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne retweeted a video clip of Lealeo’s statement, while offensive lineman Jedrick Wills quote tweeted the video clip, adding a crying-with-laughter emoji.
As far as any other responses, Alabama players say they’ll wait until the weekend to do their talking.
“I mean it’s not the first person to say that, and it probably won’t be the last,” Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts said. “But at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and play our game. I’ve said this too, everybody’s liable to their own opinion. We’ve got to go out there and play. We know we’re up against a good opponent, but we have to go play our game.”
Read: How the Crimson Tide looked against Colorado State
No. 1 Alabama enter’s this Saturday’s matchup as an 18.5 favorite according to VegasInsider.com. Nevertheless, the Commodores enter the matchup with a good amount of confidence. Like Alabama, Vanderbilt enters the game 3-0 and is coming off its first win over a ranked non-SEC opponent since 1946. While still unranked, the Commodores received votes in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.
“Vanderbilt is a very well-coached team. Very physical. I mean, we have a good week of preparation to get ready for them,” Alabama linebacker Keith Holcombe said. “Going in to face them is going to be a very physical game. We need to clean up all our mistakes and cut down on the mental errors and get ready for a battle.”
Those mental errors proved costly at times last week, as the Crimson Tide gave up a season-high 23 points and 391 yards of total offense. Alabama allowed Colorado State to convert 10 of 18 third-down conversions and gave up 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Following the game, Alabama linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said the team would hold a “come-to-Jesus meeting” Monday to sort out the problems.
“There is some stuff we’re slacking up on. We need to bite down this week because here comes the front of the season,” Holcombe said. “This is conference play in the SEC so you better set your jaw because it’s going to be a fun ride. But we need to clean up what we’ve messed up and get ready for your conference play.”
Alabama and Vanderbilt will play at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday. The game will be televised by CBS.