Nick Saban: Revenge is a factor for Alabama against Vanderbilt in Week 6

Vanderbilt pulled off the upset of the season last year, defeating then-No. 1 Alabama 40-35 in Nashville. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will look to get their win back inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.

The upset came during the first season following Nick Saban’s retirement. One year later, the six-time national championship-winning former Alabama head coach is on campus for the Week 6 matchup. He laid out his expectation for Alabama plainly.

“Let me say one thing: revenge is not supposed to be a factor,” Saban said during ESPN College GameDay. “But it is a factor today.”

Last season, Vanderbilt controlled the time of possession 42-18, forced Alabama’s offense into two turnovers and held the Crimson Tide to under 100 yards rushing. Alabama has held to 50% (3-6) on its third-down conversions and found themselves trailing early.

The Commodores scored the first 13 points of the game and took a 23-14 lead into the halftime break. Alabama closed the gap with an opening third-quarter touchdown. The Crimson Tide kept it close until midway through the final quarter. QB Diego Pavia completed a six-yard touchdown strike to Kamrean Johnson to take a two-score lead.

In the end, Alabama wouldn’t have enough time to make the comeback. It wasn’t long after the the goalposts were taken down by Vanderbilt fans and carried out of the stadium.

The win seemingly catapulted Vanderbilt into a new era — one where SEC wins and postseason appearances aren’t all that uncommon in Nashville. They’re currently 5-0 on the season, ranked No. 16 in the latest AP Top 25 poll and are averaging 49 points per game offensively this season — second best in the SEC behind Tennessee (51.0 ppg).

On the other side of that, Alabama’s defense is letting up 16.5 points per game on average. Since the season-opening loss to Florida State, the most points they’ve given up this season was 21. That came against Georgia on the road last weekend.

With revenge on their mind, the Crimson Tide will look to tell a completely different story this time around than the one from one year ago. Saban laid out the expectation, and it’s on head coach Kalen DeBoer to get his squad in position to rise to the occasion.

The opening kickoff between the Crimson Tide and Commodores is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. ABC will carry the national broadcast of the high-profile, ranked matchup in the SEC.