It was not always pretty, but the Alabama Crimson Tide might have locked up a spot in the College Football Playoff with a 21-6 road win over Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.
As a result, Alabama improved to 8-2 (6-2 SEC) on the season, while Vanderbilt fell to 4-6 (1-6). In total, Alabama outgained Vanderbilt in total yardage, 309-235, in a game that featured no points scored in either the first or fourth quarters.
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The game also featured dominant play defensively from the Crimson Tide, while Alabama’s offense produced some mixed results at times.
With that being said, here are three takeaways from Alabama’s Week 11 win over Vanderbilt.
Alabama’s sluggish start
While you can make the argument that Alabama never really got going, which I would probably second, the Tide were very slow getting started. Alabama did not score until the final seconds of the first half when Keelon Russell hit Marshall Pritchett for a touchdown with six seconds remaining in the half to give Alabama a 7-3 lead. Alabama’s first five drives of the game featured three punts, a turnover-on-downs, and an interception, in that order. They finally scored on their sixth drive of the game.
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Alabama’s defense did well to hold Vandy in check while the offense was slow to start, but there were probably several major factors in play for the slow start. One being the letdown off of the LSU game last week, and another being Keelon Russell, who was a game-time decision, not being 100%.
Daniel Hill’s big day
Nov 14, 2026; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Daniel Hill (4) runs with the ball against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images
After several games of being held in check, Daniel Hill had a big game on Saturday and was a big reason Alabama won. Against Vandy, Hill rushed 14 times for 89 yards, averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Hill had just 85 yards on 21 carries (4.0 yards per carry) over Alabama’s three previous games. He had not had over 40 rushing yards in a game since the Florida State game in Week 3.
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With Alabama’s attrition at the running back position, and with it being a low-scoring game with a not 100% quarterback, Daniel Hill’s big game was exactly what Alabama needed.
Big day from Alabama’s front seven
Alabama’s front seven dominated the game. The Tide defense came up with five sacks on the afternoon, and shut down the ‘Dores run game. Alabama held Vanderbilt’s running backs to just 36 rushing yards on 12 carries, just 3.0 yards per rush. The pass rush did well as a full unit with the five sacks coming from five different players in Yhonzae Pierre, QB Reese, Fatutoa Henry, Abduall Sanders Jr., and Justin Hill.
With a true freshman quarterback on the other side, Alabama’s front seven made it a long day for Jared Curtis and the Vanderbilt offense.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: 3 takeaways from Alabama’s road win vs. Vanderbilt
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
