How To Watch Saturday’s Alabama Vs. Vanderbilt Football Game

A year ago, Vanderbilt pulled off the biggest upset in program history, defeating No. 1 Alabama, 40-35, to hand the Crimson Tide their first loss since coach Kalen DeBoer took over in January 2024. Before then, the Commodores had never beaten a top five team in the Associated Press poll.

On Saturday, the teams meet again. This time, though, Vanderbilt has established itself as an improved program while Alabama has shown signs that it is not the same as it was under coach Nick Saban, who led the Crimson Tide to six national titles and three more College Football Playoff championship games.

Saturday’s game will air on ABC at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, a time slot that CBS had locked up for Southeastern Conference games for 28 years. But starting this season, ABC and ESPN are carrying the SEC’s entire schedule and spreading games throughout the day and across networks. For instance, Saturday’s schedule includes Kentucky at No. 12 Georgia on ABC at noon, No. 9 Texas at Florida on ESPN at 3:30 p.m., Kent State at No. 5 Oklahoma on the SEC Network at 4:00 p.m. and Mississippi State at No. 6 Texas A&M on the SEC Network at 7:30 p.m.

Story Lines To Follow

Alabama should have a big advantage because the game is taking place on its campus at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Vanderbilt hasn’t won a game at Alabama since 1984, which was also the last time before a year ago that the Commodores had defeated the Crimson Tide. Alabama has a 32-5-2 record over Vanderbilt on its home field.

Still, the Commodores are 5-0 and off to their best start in decades. In fact, they are No. 16 in the Associated Press poll, their best ranking at this point of a season since 1956. Vanderbilt is fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring margin and has 24-point road victories over South Carolina and Virginia Tech. The Commodores are averaging 49 points per game and are second in the nation with 7.8 yards per play.

After going 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the SEC in 2023, Vanderbilt revamped its coaching staff, added several impact transfers and raised more money to fund Name, Image and Likeness deals, helping the Commodores to improve to 7-6 last season and 3-5 in the conference. They won three consecutive games last October but lost four of their next five before defeating Georgia Tech, 35-27, in the Birmingham Bowl. Even though Vanderbilt is undefeated and dominating opponents, its schedule gets much tougher starting on Saturday, as the Commodores play consecutive games against No. 10 Alabama, No. 13 LSU, No. 19 Missouri and No. 9 Texas.

Alabama, meanwhile, is coming off an impressive 24-21 victory at then-No. 5 Georgia. The Crimson Tide started off the season losing, 31-17, at Florida State, but they have improved since then. Still, they need to win Saturday or else fans will be criticizing DeBoer, who went 9-4 a year ago, the first time Alabama didn’t win at least 10 games since 2007, which was Saban’s first season.

Players To Watch

The game features two quarterbacks who are considered Heisman Trophy contenders in Alabama’s Ty Simpson and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia.

Simpson, a backup for three seasons, has thrived in his first season as a starter. He has completed 69.3% of his passes for 1,138 yards with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. Simpson has some talented wide receivers, including senior Germie Bernard (team-high 20 catches, 310 yards and four touchdowns) and sophomore Ryan Williams, who has 15 catches for 238 yards and two touchdowns and could be a top pick in the 2027 NFL draft when he’s eligible to turn professional.

Pavia, meanwhile, is in his second season as Vanderbilt’s starter after successfully suing the NCAA for more eligibility. Pavia has completed 74.6% of his passes for 1,211 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions and run for a team-high 294 yards and two touchdowns. He is eighth in FBS with a 184.6 passer rating. Pavia’s top target is tight end Eli Stowers, his former teammate at New Mexico State. Stowers leads Vanderbilt with 22 catches and 301 yards.

Pavia, in a recent interview with On3’s Chris Low, was confident in Vanderbilt’s chances of pulling off an upset for the second consecutive year.

“I know we’ve got to bring it, that’s for sure,” Pavia said. “The crowd, I think, is going to be a big factor in the game. But we just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close.”