Nick Saban: Alabama’s Complacency, Arrogance After Georgia Win Led to Vanderbilt Loss

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban offered an assessment of what he saw from the Crimson Tide in their 40-35 loss to Vanderbilt on Oct. 5.

During Saturday’s episode of College Gameday, Saban explained that Alabama showed “a little complacency, almost even arrogance” in the wake of the Georgia victory that it cost the team against Vandy.

The Oct. 5 victory marked Vanderbilt’s first win over a team ranked in the top five of the Associated Press poll. Alabama entered the game ranked No. 1 overall coming off its dramatic 41-34 victory against Georgia on Sept. 28.

Vandy’s 40 points scored were equal to its total in the previous seven games combined against Alabama dating back to 2001.

Alabama had won 23 straight games against the Commodores since 1985. The Crimson Tide won the previous three games in the battle between SEC teams with Saban as head coach by a combined score of 148-3.

Saban has been complimentary Vanderbilt’s effort in the game, and there were some indications that this version of the Commodores could at least cause Alabama problems.

In its previous game on Sept. 21, Vandy had a strong showing against then-No. 7 Missouri before falling 30-27 in double overtime.

While no one would confuse the amount of offensive talent on Georgia’s roster for Vanderbilt’s, the Bulldogs did at least offer a blueprint to opposing teams for how to score against Alabama.

The Bulldogs scored 27 points in the second half after falling behind 30-7 at halftime. The comeback included four touchdown drives of at least 67 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown reception by Dillon Bell that briefly gave Georgia 34-33 lead with 2:31 remaining.

Vanderbilt’s approach was more methodical by controlling the clock. It held the ball for more than 42 minutes and turned both of Alabama’s turnovers into touchdowns. Diego Pavia was able to create big plays through the air when he was asked to throw, averaging 12.6 yards per attempt with two touchdown passes on 20 attempts.

It’s not unusual for a talented team to have a let down coming off a big win against a marquee opponent. It didn’t happen a lot to Alabama under Saban, but this is a new era with Kalen DeBoer still trying to establish his own culture and identity with the program.

Alabama will look to get back on track when it hosts South Carolina on Saturday.