Alabama had a decided advantage in fan support playing on the road in Nashville. At kickoff, approximately two-thirds of the 40,350 in attendance at Vanderbilt Stadium were wearing crimson.
By the time the fourth quarter started, it was closer to 80 or 90 percent in Alabama’s favor, with Vandy fans leaving early in the wake of the Crimson Tide’s big lead.
UA players noticed.
“I want to thank our fans for traveling on the road, taking time out of their weekend to come support us,” running back Bo Scarbrough said. “Once we came out and we saw all the red and white, we kind of figured we’re playing at home. I think that we had more fans than they did.”
Large winning margin
Alabama’s 59-point win was its biggest SEC win since beating Texas A&M 59-0 in Tuscaloosa in 2014. The last time Alabama won a road game in the conference by 52 points was a 52-point shutout at Arkansas in 2012.
The winning margin could’ve been larger too had UA coach Nick Saban not taken mercy on the Commodores and kneeled the ball three straight times at the Vanderbilt goal line to end the game.
Turning them over
Vanderbilt entered the game with one of the best records in the country on turnovers. Then the Commodores turned the ball over twice in the first quarter.
Vanderbilt had only had one turnover in its first three games of the season and had forced six from its opponents. But a fumble and an interception in the first quarter helped UA jump out to a 21-0 lead. Ronnie Harrison was the beneficiary of a tipped-pass interception in the first quarter. Later, Da’Shawn Hand recovered a fumble that was forced by Anfernee Jennings.
Alabama continued its turnover-less streak, dating back a total of 30 quarters. The streak is the longest in school history based on available records dating to 1940.
Streaking
With the win, the Crimson Tide has won its last 19 games against the SEC East. The last loss to an East opponent came at the hands of South Carolina in 2010.
Over that span, UA is 14-0 in the regular season against the East and 4-0 in SEC Championship games.
The win also extended Alabama’s winning streak over unranked opponents to 68 games, having not lost to an unranked opponent since 2007.
Tidebits
Former Alabama Heisman Trophy winning running back Derrick Henry attended the game…Henry plays in Nashville for the Tennessee Titans…Minkah Fitzpatrick, Bo Scarbrough and Bradley Bozeman served as game captains…Alabama won the toss and deferred to the second half…
Ben Jones, Tommy Deas and Aaron Suttles contributed to this report.
