TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — After taking down No. 2 Georgia 41-34 in wild fashion, almost nobody thought what happened in Nashville, Tennessee last Saturday could actually happen.
Then No. 1 Alabama was stunned by the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 40-35 upset loss that may end up being the upset of the year in college football. It was the first time in 40 years that Vanderbilt beat the Crimson Tide on the gridiron. In the four times Alabama faced Vanderbilt under Nick Saban, Vanderbilt scored a combined 13 points in the four meetings, including being shut out twice.
There has been a lot of talk in the media about Alabama’s defense and their remaining schedule after suffering a loss early in conference play as a big favorite, but the Crimson Tide must now look forward to their next contest as Alabama returns home to play the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Following the loss, Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer feels the team has had the right attitude moving forward.
“I think our staff did a nice job, I think our guys did a great job responding with the right mindset, with the right attitude and brought some great energy,” DeBoer said in Monday’s press conference.
As the Crimson Tide prepares for the Gamecocks, one matchup to watch for are the quarterbacks. Similar to Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe being a dual-threat quarterback, South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers is also a dual-threat quarterback himself.
The Alabama defense will have its hands full as it game plans for Sellers. Through four games this season, Sellers has passed for just 548 yards, but has rushed for 207 yards.
After surrendering over 400 yards and 40 points to Vanderbilt, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack called Saturday’s defensive performance “not acceptable.”
Despite the underwhelming performance, DeBoer is not panicking on the defense yet.
“I think the key with anything-and that’s including our team-is to not overreact. Understand exactly why what is happening is happening, and you have adjustments built into your game plan, and so it might be mixing things up,” DeBoer said.
For South Carolina, the Gamecocks are coming off a 27-3 loss at home to No. 9 Ole Miss that dropped them to 3-2 and 1-2 in conference play.
Despite the below .500 record in conference play, South Carolina has shown the ability to compete with SEC competition.
In the team’s first conference game, South Carolina thrashed Kentucky on the road 31-6 with the help of a stellar defensive performance. The next week, the Gamecocks fell a field goal short of forcing overtime against then-No. 16 LSU.
Alabama will look to get back in the win column Saturday when South Carolina comes to Tuscaloosa. Alabama versus South Carolina will kick off at 11 a.m. CT.
