Vanderbilt players don't lack for confidence. The Commodores are still riding the high of last season's win over Alabama in Nashville, along with this year's impressive 5-0 start and No. 16 ranking in the AP Poll, and it has emboldened them to pop off at the mouth this week ahead of Saturday's matchup in Tuscaloosa.
First, predictably, it was Diego Pavia, who was quoted as saying that if Vanderbilt played its game, it "won't be close." Now, RB Sedrick Alexander has doubled down on Pavia's quote, providing even more bulletin board material for Alabama the day before kickoff.
“I feel like we’re going to go dominate down there in Tuscaloosa," Alexander told reporters. "I feel like we have the best coaching staff [and the] best players in the country."
Vanderbilt players feel like they can have success against Alabama because they won the game last year. They're comfortable poking the bear. As Nick Saban said prior to Alabama's 2020 matchup with LSU, it's time for the Crimson Tide to change the way Vandy thinks.
It's time for Alabama to remind Vanderbilt of their respective places in the SEC
I reckon you can't blame Vanderbilt players or their fans for being overconfident. They are enjoying their 15 minutes of college football fame before they are inevitably back in the cellar of the SEC, where they've so often been in the history of the program.
Vanderbilt is still Vanderbilt. And Alabama is still Alabama at the end of the day. Credit Clark Lea, Tim Beck, Jerry Kill, and Diego Pavia for changing the narrative, but these programs have never been equals on the gridiron. And they still aren't now, though the 'Dores are undoubtedly a good football team right now.
But Pavia and company got a lot of mileage out of last season, which was a perfect storm of calamities. Vanderbilt earned the win, but Alabama sleptwalked through the early part of that game and did not have a good defensive gameplan.
That won't be the case this year. And even if the defense struggles, it's hard to envision Vanderbilt being able to stop Ty Simpson and an Alabama offense that is completely dialed in right now. Since struggling in the opener against Florida State, the Tide's offense has been clicking on all cylinders since then.
That's not going to change this week. Vanderbilt has talked the talk, but the quiet emanating from Tuscaloosa should be eerie for the visiting Commodores. Because Alabama is ready to let its play do the talking this time.