College Gameday Experts Give Keys to Success for Alabama vs. Vanderbilt

All eyes will be on Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday, in the afternoon slate at least. Alabama welcomes in No. 16 Vanderbilt in a matchup nobody believed to have top 25 potential early in the year. The Commodores are riding in on what has been one of the greatest starts in program history. This is the first time they will play the Crimson Tide in a ranked matchup in decades, and many believe they have a reasonable shot at knocking off Alabama at home.

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With the attention this game brings, high-profile names in the sport come with it. I'm talking, of course, about College Gameday, as they selected Tuscaloosa as their next stop over Tallahassee, Florida, for the matchup between FSU and Miami. Gameday host Rece Davis and Stanford Steve, the show's betting analyst, spoke to the media before Saturday's show on the University of Alabama quad.

I asked them both about their keys to the game and what areas would be crucial in deciding this ranked matchup. For Stanford Steve, he's looking to see how the Commodore secondary matches up with Alabama's high-flying passing attack. He had this to say when asked about which matchup could decide the game:

"I think it's the Vanderbilt secondary. They haven't seen anything like what Alabama brings to the table, and what I really like is what Alabama's done with their tight ends on the edge."

Alabama has been nearly flawless through the air over the last several games, as Ty Simpson followed up dangerously efficient performances in weeks two and three with another masterful performance against the Georgia Bulldogs last week.

As for Davis, he's looking at the matchup that most everyone else is: Diego Pavia and the Vanderbilt rushing attack versus the Crimson Tide defense.

"They've got to like the tackling part," said Davis, referencing a movie quote. "Everyone's gonna miss tackles, you're human. But when you dive into metrics and analytics, Alabama's 112th in tackle percentage." He pointed out that last year, per ESPN, Alabama missed ten total tackles against the Commodores, and four of them on Diego Pavia alone.

Alabama will certainly have its hands full with this Commodore offense, which has scored at least 31 points in every game this season. However, look for Ty Simpson and this offense, as they'll look to start early and establish dominance on Vanderbilt's inferior defensive backs.