Three important Alabama Football goals for the Vandy game that don't include winning

It is inaccurate to state Alabama Football has a practice game this Saturday. Clark Lea has instilled toughness into the Commodores and Vandy will battle hard. It is not unusual for Alabama fans to outnumber Vandy fans at games In Nashville. FirstBank Stadium is going through year two of a renovation that reduced the seating for this year to 28,934. With fewer seats for a second season, Vandy fans may not have flooded markets with tickets that would have been gobbled up by Alabama fans.

Whatever the attendance split is, there will be no home-field advantage for the Dores. Alabama is easily three touchdowns better, and maybe more depending on how far into the game Alabama's first units are used.

Given the probability of an Alabama Football win might be even higher than the 92.2% probability calculated by ESPN Analytics, winning the game is almost a secondary goal. Along with winning, three more things need to happen for the Crimson Tide. The first one is no serious injuries. Alabama will go into the game (barring a new practice injury) in great shape. On Wednesday night's SEC Availability Report, only two Alabama players were listed. Kendrick Law was listed as questionable and Justin Jefferson was listed as probable. Earlier this week, Kalen DeBoer defined Law's situation as day-to-day. It might make sense to hold him out as a precaution.

Other guys who were dinged up against Georgia are at or near full speed. They include Tim Keenan, DeVonta Smith, and Jihaad Campbell. Qua Russaw played against Georgia at less than 100% but has continued to progress. Alabama football fans were worried when Smith, with his injury history, left the Georgia game twice, but it was only due to cramping.

Alabama Football Goals 2 and 3 for the Vandy Game

Important focus number two for the Vandy game is action to continue the development of the young players in the secondary. Alabama used nine defensive backs against Georgia, though King Mack was only in on the Tide's last defensive series. Freshmen Red Morgan (27 snaps) and Jaylen Mbakwe (17 snaps), along with transfer DaShawn Jones (18 snaps) gained valuable game experience. They need to gain more against Vandy. Nine would be a great number of defensive backs to have ready if serious injuries occur to starters.

Important item number three is getting more wide receivers involved with frequent catches. Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard lead the Crimson Tide in receptions with 16 and 13 catches, respectively. Only one other Crimson Tide wideout has caught more than five passes; Kobe Prentice with seven receptions. Emmanuel Henderson, Cole Adams, Caleb Odom, and if he plays, Kendrick Law need expanded roles. At this point, if Williams or Bernard are lost to injury, the Tide's passing game might lose considerable big play ability. The other four have game-breaking potential that needs to be developed. No doubt JaMarcus Shephard agrees, but so far, Alabama's other offensive weapons have been plenty. Shephard has been vocal this week demanding better play from his wideouts.