Vanderbilt will face the nation's No. 1 college football team for the eighth time in program history when the Commodores host Alabama on Saturday.
It's the game of the week on CBS, and the SEC Network will televise its "SEC Nation" show from Vanderbilt's campus, but fourth-year Commodores coach Derek Mason does not believe the added hype will get to his 3-0 team.
"We've always been shielded from the hype, because there has never really been a whole bunch of it," Mason said Wednesday. "Four weeks ago, nobody was really talking about Vanderbilt, and I don't pay attention to social media. I don't read blogs. All I try to do is make sure I can take care of these kids, because my job is to serve them.
"They've bought in to it, too. It's an older group. They're not distracted by things that don't matter. All they know is that they've got an opportunity on Saturday to play a game."
The Commodores came up empty in their seven previous opportunities against top-ranked teams, falling to Tennessee (13-0 in 1939, 35-27 in 1951 and 41-0 in 1998), Oklahoma (25-23 in 1977), Alabama (41-0 in 1980), and Florida (28-21 in 1996 and 27-3 in 2009).
Alabama is used to marquee games on a weekly basis. In fact, since the start of the 2008 season, the Crimson Tide have only played three regular-season games in which they were not in the running for a national championship. Those were the final three games of the 2010 season after a 24-21 loss at LSU in early November dropped the Crimson Tide to No. 11 in the polls.
"The focus this week has been to play to our standard and stay focused," Alabama coach Nick Saban said Wednesday night in a news conference. "No mental clutter. We need good communication, because we're playing a really good team."
Vanderbilt has disposed of Middle Tennessee State, Alabama A&M and No. 18 Kansas State the past three weeks and leads the nation in total defense (allowing 198.3 yards per game) and scoring defense (yielding 4.3 points per contest).
Alabama's offense has been sharp out of the gate the past two weeks against Fresno State and Colorado State, but Saban expects a stout 60-minute challenge Saturday. In the Southeastern Conference, the Tide rank fifth in total offense (417.7) and fourth in scoring (35.3).
"I don't think there will be any kind of magic," Saban said. "We just have to do a good job of executing. You have to take care of the football against guys like this."
Mason's chief concern is getting a running game going. Despite having Ralph Webb, the school's career rushing leader, the Commodores are averaging just 103.3 rushing yards per contest.
"Our guys have stayed intact and have worked hard to clean up the weaknesses in what we do," Mason said. "Whether it's Alabama or Alabama A&M, the preparation and the work has to get done. I like where this group is. We just have to keep grinding."
Tide tidbits
Saban said linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Dylan Moses "seem to be doing fairly well" in practices after missing the past two games, but he didn't give quite as upbeat a report on linebacker Rashaan Evans. ... Sophomore running back Josh Jacobs (hamstring injury) got in three or four plays last Saturday and has done more in practice this week, Saban said. ... When asked how Alabama's return game was performing this season, Saban said there haven't been many opportunities.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6524.