No. 10 Alabama got its revenge on No. 16 Vanderbilt with a 30-14 win Saturday afternoon at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Facing a much better Vanderbilt team than last year, Alabama weathered the early punches from the Commodores and delivered the knockout blow on a 15-play drive that ate up half the fourth quarter and ended up with a field goal.
The Crimson Tide move to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC.
Here are a few takeaways from the game.
- Running Game Shows Some Life
Alabama’s rushing offense has sputtered in every game this season, even with the return of Jam Miller. On Saturday, Alabama’s run game showed some spurts of life. The Crimson Tide finished the game with 146 yards on the game. Miller led all Alabama rushers with 136 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. A 20-yard touchdown run by Miller in the last minute of the game helped Alabama rush for more yards than Vanderbilt. Miller eclipsed 100 yards for the first time since the South Florida game last year.
- Run Defense Still Struggling
Alabama had its hands full with one of the nation’s best offenses and rushing attacks. The Crimson Tide still haven’t figured out how to stop the run for a full game. Alabama allowed the Commodores to rush for 135 yards on 19 carries for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. Outside of long runs from running back Sedrick Alexander and quarterback Diego Pavia, Alabama did a decent job limiting the potent Vanderbilt rushing attack.
- Inconsistent Kicking
Field goal kicking has been less than average so far this season. Conor Talty has been very hit-or-miss. Inside of 40 yards, Talty has been a perfect 5-for-5. However, outside of 40 yards only 2-for-5. On Saturday, Talty was a perfect 3-for-3 inside 40 yards and missed his lone attempt outside 40 yards.
- Bernard Scores Again
Germie Bernard finds the endzone again. For the fourth game in a row, Bernard has scored a touchdown for the Crimson Tide. In the only game of the season that Bernard did not find the endzone, the Crimson Tide lost. Bernard finished with five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown.
- Turnovers Making the Difference
Alabama finally lost its first turnover of the year on a Ty Simpson interception but the defense did its job to force multiple turnovers. The Crimson Tide defense won the turnover battle 2-1, forcing both an interception and a fumble by Pavia inside the redzone. The two turnovers by Pavia proved to be costly for the Commodores.
Alabama will travel to No. 19 Missouri October 11 at 11:00 a.m. The game will be televised on ABC.
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