NASHVILLE, Tenn. — FirstBank Stadium sits roughly a mile away from Nashville’s entertainment district. Saturday afternoon, No. 1 Alabama did its best impression of the partygoers from the night before.
The Crimson Tide dug itself into an early two-score deficit and was never able to recover, as Vanderbilt’s option offense ate up the clock on its way to a 40-35 upset. The Tide’s loss snaps a 23-game winning streak over the Commodores and marks the first loss of the Kalen DeBoer era.
Still hungover from last week’s wild win over Georgia, Alabama (4-1, 1-1 in the SEC) stumbled to a nightmare start thanks to a mix of turnovers and costly mistakes. From there, Vanderbilt (3-2, 1-1) never relinquished its lead, leaning on a series of clutch plays from quarterback Diego Pavia.
Vanderbilt, which entered the game as a 22.5-point underdog, outgained Alabama, 418-396. The Commodores also ended up with a 42:08 to 17:52 advantage in time of possession.
Here’s a look at how Alabama graded out in all three aspects of the game.