NASHVILLE — The University of Alabama football program has lots of experience being ranked No. 1 and staying focused on what matters most.
That’s lifting the national championship trophy at season’s end. So don’t expect last weekend’s emotional home win over Georgia, which was ranked second at the time, to linger enough for the Crimson Tide to trip up Saturday in a rare visit to Vanderbilt for a Southeastern Conference matchup.
“It doesn’t matter what games we win on the journey,” Alabama safety Malachi Moore said. “It’s just another stepping stone into reaching the ultimate goal, and that’s to win the national championship.”
Alabama (4-0, 1-0) could be forgiven for taking Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1) a bit lightly after first-year coach Kalen DeBoer’s 41-34 win over Georgia in his introduction to the SEC. Vanderbilt has never beaten a top-ranked team.
Fourth-year Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea made a lot of changes to the program at his alma mater in the offseason, and the Commodores’ most recent game was a 30-27 double-overtime loss at Missouri, which was ranked seventh at the time. They also are coming off an open date that allowed them to rest up.