Not often but the Alabama Crimson Tide does sometimes lose to Vanderbilt

The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Vanderbilt Commodores have been playing football against each other since 1903. From 1903 through 1929, the teams met 10 times and the Commodores won eight. The overall record is heavily in Alabama's favor at 63-18-4.

Since the early 1960s, any Vandy win over Alabama Football has been a shocker. Going back to 1957, Vandy has beaten the Crimson Tide just two times; in 1969 and 1984. Alabama's current win streak against the Dores is at 23 games; which is college football's third-longest current head-to-head, winning streak.

Vandy will not break the Tide's current win streak on Saturday afternoon. Though it will not happen, if it did, a Vandy upset on Saturday would not be more shocking than the Vandy wins in 1969 and 1984.

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Vanderbilt Oct. 11, 1969

In the 1961 through 1966 seasons, Paul Bryant led the Crimson Tide to a 60-5-1 record and three National Championships. It should have been four National Championships, but the pollsters robbed the 11-0 1966 team. In 1967, Alabama Football stumbled to a shocking 8-2-1 record. The tie was the season opener in Birmingham against a weak Florida State team. The game ended in a 37-37 tie. The losses in 1967 were to Tennessee and, in the Cotton Bowl, to Texas A&M, coached by Gene Stallings.

The 1968 season was another disappointment, with Alabama losing to Ole Miss and Tennessee by a total of three points. In the 1968 Gator Bowl, Alabama was soundly beaten by Missouri, 35-10. For Alabama, 1969 and 1970 were worse. The Crimson Tide opened the 1969 season with wins over Virginia Tech, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss. Next came a Saturday night contest in Nashville. The Dores were 2-7-1 in 1967 and 5-4-1 in 1968. Vandy opened the 1969 season with losses to Michigan, Army, and North Carolina.

The Commodores beat the No. 13-ranked Crimson Tide 14-10. Vandy's late 4th-quarter, winning touchdown was thrown by Watson Brown. Brown had turned down a scholarship offer from Bryant. Watson is UNC coach Mack Brown's brother. Watson Brown was a head coach for over 30 years, including at Vanderbilt and UAB. He retired from coaching at Tennessee Tech after the 2015 season.

Alabama Football vs. Vanderbilt Sept. 29, 1984

In the first season after Paul Bryant's death, Alabama was 8-4 under Ray Perkins in 1983. The 1984 season was much worse. Alabama opened with a loss to Boston College in Birmingham, followed a week later by a loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. A home win over Louisiana provided little relief for disgruntled Alabama fans.

Vandy came to Tuscaloosa at 3-0 with wins over Kansas State, Maryland, and Kansas. Even the most frustrated Alabama fan gave Vandy no chance of winning. The Dores did, and the 30-21 win was misleading. The Crimson Tide scored a late touchdown that only slightly lessened the embarrassment of the upset.

A couple of years ago, I defined that point in time for Alabama Football as the "lowest point since Jennings ‘Ears’ Whitworth lost 24 games in his three seasons as the Tide head coach in 1955-1957."

Note: Alabama and Vanderbilt game records provided by Sports Reference.