The SEC is as competitive as ever. Alabama has already notched three ranked wins over conference opponents, beating Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Missouri in succession. Yet, the Crimson Tide still have No. 11 Tennessee, No. 10 LSU, and No. 14 Oklahoma left on the schedule.
Undaunted by the upcoming schedule, former Alabama running back, two-time national champion, and current CBS analyst Damien Harris thinks that Alabama has already passed its toughest test en route to the SEC Title.
In an exclusive interview with FanSided, promoting his partnership with Dr. Pepper, Harris declared the Crimson Tide the best team in the SEC. “They just beat 3 ranked teams to start SEC play for the first time ever in Alabama football history,” Harris said. “And then you see what the teams that they beat, right, going into this Vandy game, everybody was talking about, well, Alabama, they know how to lose to Vandy. Diego Pavia, he knows how to beat Alabama.”
“They kept him in check. They put him in a box,” Harris continued. “They took the ball away from him a couple of times, and they showed mobile quarterbacks, that's not, that's a thing of the past.”
Was Vanderbilt the biggest threat to Alabama’s SEC Title aspirations?
Rather than turn his attention to the Tide’s win over Georgia in Athens, Harris’s focus went directly to Vanderbilt, the team that knocked Alabama from the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll in 2024 after Kalen DeBoer downed the Dawgs in Tuscaloosa. Maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise considering that season’s upset loss, which ultimately helped to keep the Tide out of the College Football Playoff, but Harris holds the Commodores in quite high regard.
When asked which team is the biggest threat to Alabama’s SEC supremacy. He didn’t offer the program that was smoking cigars on the Third Saturday of October in 2024, or LSU with its vaunted defense, or even Georgia, with which the Tide could have a rematch in the SEC Championship Game.
“Well, to be honest with you, I thought it was Vandy,” Harris responded. “I went into that game saying that this is the most important test for Alabama. Why? Because they (Alabama) had success against Georgia. Why? Because the same script that we had last year after Alabama beat Georgia. Why?” Harris repeated, the showmanship that landed him on CBS’s airwaves so quickly after his NFL career, shining through. “Because Diego Pavia has not only the confidence to beat Alabama, but he's got guys like Johnny Manziel telling him, hey, if you beat him twice, they'll put a statue up for you.”
Pavia may still one day get a statue in Nashville, but he couldn’t take down the Tide twice. Alabama pulled away in the second half for a 30-14 victory. With just one loss, the 17th-ranked Commodores could find their way to Atlanta, and if they do, Harris fully expects Alabama to meet them.