Alabama Football: Vanderbilt Commodores offensive preview

Alabama football takes on Vanderbilt in its first conference game of the 2022 season. Vandy is off to a 3-1 start and is averaging over 40 points per game. The Alabama defense has been one of the best in the country to this point, and looks to humble the Commodores’ offense.

Vanderbilt’s offense was abysmal in 2021. It mustered just 15.8 points per game, ranking 128th in the nation. The Commodores ranked 118th posting 312.8 yards, and were equally bad running and passing the ball, ranking 104th in the country in each category.

Through four games in 2022, the Vanderbilt offense appears to have made some drastic improvements. The Dores rank 55th in the nation with 436.8 yards per game and have posted an impressive 42.0 points per game, good for 21st in the FBS. Vanderbilt’s strength has been in its running game. The Commodores have averaged over 217 yards per game, although this stat is boosted by a 400-yard performance against Hawaii in week zero.

Senior running back Re’Mahn Davis leads the charge with 385 yards and three touchdowns, tacking on a pair of receiving touchdowns as well. The former Temple transfer has over 2,000 career rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns.

It will be interesting to see how Vandy uses its second-leading rusher, junior quarterback Mike Wright, against Alabama football. Wright is an explosive athlete, and has recorded 264 yards and a team-high four touchdowns on an eye-popping 8.3 yards per carry. Although he isn’t considered to be very polished as a passer, he has thrown six touchdowns to just one interception this year.

Alabama Football defending the pass

In Vanderbilt’s last game, Wright was replaced by freshman AJ Swann. Swann is a much more composed passer, and was impressive both in reserve duty against Wake Forest and as the starter against Northern Illinois. He has thrown for 452 yards and six touchdowns on the season.

Swann has been extremely efficient as well as explosive, averaging 9.8 yards per attempt and posting a QBR of 188.6. This is a small sample size, but these numbers over the course of a season would put Swann on par with the best quarterbacks in the country.

As a result, it is reasonable to expect Vanderbilt to try to throw the ball against Alabama. The Crimson Tide boast one of the best run defenses in the country, and might be slightly more vulnerable through the air.

Junior Will Sheppard is Vanderbilt’s top receiving threat, having caught 23 passes for 313 yards and seven touchdowns. Sheppard is a talented receiver, but has accounted for a disproportionate percentage of Vandy’s receiving production.

In theory, this should make him easier to game plan against. The Tide has had some relative struggles at cornerback, so the Commodores may try to scheme Sheppard into some favorable matchups.

Alabama football should not have any struggles against this Vanderbilt offense, but the Commodores’ hot start to the season makes this game a little more intriguing.