When Vanderbilt upset Alabama 40-35 last October in Nashville, it marked the first time the Commodores had ever knocked off a top-ranked team.
The rematch will draw the largest television audience ever to see Vandy play. Last year’s thriller transpired in the 4:15 p.m. Eastern slot on the SEC Network, but Saturday’s showdown will kick off shortly after 3:30 on ABC, and it will be pumped up that morning by ESPN’s “College GameDay” show, which will be on location in Tuscaloosa.
“What’s special is the opportunity to go play against Alabama,” Commodores coach Clark Lea said this week in a news conference. “Obviously we understand that it’s a great stage and that there will be a lot of eyes on us, but what we want to do is to go play our brand of football.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us, but that’s where our focus will be.”
Vanderbilt is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2008 or for only the second time since the conclusion of World War II. The Commodores have won their first five games by at least 20 points — they raced past Virginia Tech 44-20 in Blacksburg and walloped South Carolina 31-7 in Columbia — for the first time since 1915, which predated the formation of the Southeastern Conference.
Bobby Johnson’s Commodores were ranked No. 19 in 2008 when they toppled No. 13 Auburn 14-13 before the only “College GameDay” visit to Nashville. They improved to 5-0 with that victory but then lost four consecutive contests to Mississippi State, Georgia, Duke and Florida in an eventual 7-6 season that ended with a 16-14 edging of Boston College in the Music City Bowl.
Vandy is ranked No. 16 this time around, while Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide are ranked No. 10 with their 3-1 record that includes an opening 31-17 loss at Florida State and last Saturday’s 24-21 win at Georgia.
“For this program to get where we want it to go, we want these things to become part of our operating procedure,” Lea said. “This is a great first chance to enjoy that spotlight.”
Commodores quarterback Diego Pavia completed 16 of 20 passes for 252 yards and two touchdowns in last year’s topping of the Tide while also rushing for 56 yards. He is currently the SEC’s most efficient quarterback and is drawing early Heisman Trophy consideration on an offense averaging 49.0 points per game.
Vanderbilt is rushing for 223.4 yards per game while allowing 79.8 on the ground, but Alabama has rebounded from its opening debacle with three impressive triumphs, halting Georgia’s 33-game winning streak inside Sanford Stadium in the process.
“Both sides are better than last year,” Lea said. “It’s the second year for Kalen and his group, and you can see the identity of the program taking shape. The offense resembles the group that they took to the championship game with Washington. It’s got that kind of feel to it.
“We feel that we’re better because we’re operating at a high level offensively, and we’re playing a complementary style defensively. We’ve been very disruptive on defense.”
The Manning family has a chance to even its record against Florida to 4-4 on Saturday when Arch and the Texas Longhorns visit Gainesville.
It’s been well-documented around these parts that Peyton came up short in four appearances — including three starts — when Tennessee challenged Steve Spurrier’s Gators from 1994-97, but Eli led Ole Miss to wins over Ron Zook’s Gators in 2002-03. Arch got some mop-up duty last season, when Texas shellacked Florida 49-17 in Austin.
Archie Manning never played against Florida during his three seasons (1968-70) at Ole Miss.
With Arkansas announcing Sam Pittman’s dismissal Sunday and the tabbing of Bobby Petrino as interim coach, the SEC became the last of the four power conferences to experience a firing.
The Big Ten no longer has DeShaun Foster at UCLA, the Atlantic Coast Conference no longer has Brent Pry at Virginia Tech, and the Big 12 no longer has Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.
“I think each individual situation requires the universities to decide what it looks like moving forward instead of where we are right now,” LSU’s Brian Kelly said on Wednesday’s SEC teleconference when asked about the four September ousters. “With revenue sharing and with the construction of your roster, people are looking at more of a five-year plan and whether they will be better if they stay where they’re at right now.
“It’s much more of a long-term approach when looking at the viability of the programs.”
Before guiding the Razorbacks to a 32-34 record in five-plus seasons, Pittman was Georgia’s offensive line coach under Kirby Smart.
“I’ve texted with him back and forth, and he knows that’s the nature of this business,” Smart said. “He understands it, and he’s very appreciative of the career he’s had and the work he’s done. He was glad I reached out.
“We all know that this is part of it.”
Mississippi State second-year coach Jeff Lebby is expecting to take a better team to Texas A&M this Saturday than the one that hosted Tennessee last weekend.
The Volunteers defeated Lebby’s Bulldogs 41-34 in overtime.
“There was a ton of growth,” Lebby said. “I’ve told the guys the thing I was most proud of was that from play one to play 87, our guys continued to play and believed that we were winning the football game the entire time. There was great energy, and I thought we fought our butts off.
“We’re very disappointed and frustrated that we weren’t able to make the plays to be plus-one at the end of the game, but I’m obviously proud of our toughness, our effort and our physicality.”
Oklahoma on Saturday is hosting Kent State, a Mid-American Conference program that is choosing to get clobbered three times a year by power conference programs in exchange for nice paychecks.
The Golden Flashes will receive $1.5 million to take on the No. 5 Sooners in Norman, having already received $1.5 million to endure a 62-14 loss at Texas Tech and $1.2 million to experience a 66-10 scorching at Florida State. The Red Raiders are ranked No. 11 this week, while the Seminoles are No. 18.
It was the same story last season, when Kent State received $1.1 million from Pittsburgh, $1.35 million from Tennessee and $1.45 million from Penn State. The Golden Flashes lost those three games by the average score of 61-8, with the Vols applying a 71-0 pummeling inside Neyland Stadium.
Pasquali’s Pix
Kentucky at Georgia: The Bulldogs will get their first win in regulation over a power conference program since last November’s 31-17 triumph over Tennessee. Bulldogs 33, Wildcats 10.
Clemson at North Carolina: Can we skip this game and go straight to the postgame news conferences? Tigers 24, Tar Heels 19.
UTC at VMI: UTC’s last three trips to Lexington have yielded a 31-24 loss in 2019, a 37-34 overtime loss in 2021, and a 24-23 win two years ago. Mocs 27, Keydets 24.
Texas at Florida: The Longhorns have yet to lose an SEC road game since joining the league, and they won’t start now. Longhorns 19, Gators 10.
Boise State at Notre Dame: The first-ever meeting with the Fighting Irish can’t possibly go worse for the Broncos than it did last weekend for Arkansas. Irish 48, Broncos 19.
Vanderbilt at Alabama: Congrats to those who had Pavia and Alabama’s Ty Simpson as the SEC’s most efficient quarterbacks nearing the season’s midway mark. Crimson Tide 32, Commodores 31.
Miami at Florida State: So we know the Seminoles are 14 points better than Alabama and eight points worse than Virginia. Wait, I’m confused. Hurricanes 27, Seminoles 20.
Mississippi State at Texas A&M: Marcel Reed has compiled 3,000 passing yards and 4,000 yards of total offense quicker than any Aggies quarterback not named Johnny Manziel. Aggies 30, Bulldogs 21.
Other picks:
Oklahoma 59, Kent State 6
USF 45, Charlotte 22
Illinois 26, Purdue 19
Michigan 38, Wisconsin 21
BYU 42, West Virginia 15
N.C. State 41, Campbell 8
Penn State 44, UCLA 13
Louisville 37, Virginia 34
Texas Tech 33, Houston 20
Ohio State 30, Minnesota 7
TCU 35, Colorado 16
Memphis 48, Tulsa 25
Iowa State 20, Cincinnati 17
Pitt 27, Boston College 23
Virginia Tech 24, Wake Forest 12
Arizona 31, Oklahoma State 10
SMU 36, Syracuse 9
Winners — 18
Proctor broken tackles — 7
Pasquali is 102-23 overall (81.6%) this season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.