Saturday Predictions: Vanderbilt at Alabama

So, for the first time this season we actually have the helmets to put on the Death Rabbits. And speaking of death rabbits, well, there’s that “death” part.

Yeah. Pretty much.

Look, expectations are low for this one, as they should be. The competition is taking a major step up this week.

Tom Stephenson

Remember the last time we saw these guys, the line was like 18 points and we were sitting here thinking “Hey, maybe we can keep this competitive!”

LOL, look at those score predictions. Derek Mason, everyone!

Anyway, if you’re wondering, the difference between that game and this one is that when Nick Saban decides that it’s time to pull the starters, Tua Tagovailoa will not be coming off the bench to make things even worse for Vandy. Seriously, remember when “calling off the dogs” meant “Bama throws in a future first-round draft pick to destroy the Vanderbilt defense”? Yeah, that was a thing that happened. Jalen Milroe is... fine, I guess, but he’s not Tua. Therefore this one will not quite get as out of hand as the last one did.

Oh, and I think we’ll score. It might be against Alabama’s backups, but I don’t think we’re getting shut out.

The Pick: Alabama 49, Vanderbilt 7

The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: For reasons that are a mystery to me, some people continue to believe that Texas A&M is a good team, to the point that they are somehow favored against a Top 10 Arkansas (+2.5.) If that’s not the obvious upset pick, I don’t know what is.

Andrew VU ‘04

You know the drill. There are two NFL teams in our conference, and we’re playing them this Saturday and on October 15th. My prediction for both of those games?

The Pick: Vanderbilt 10 - Gumps 56

The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: Jorts over Buttchuggers in the Most Disgusting Cocktail Party. Oh, and just for fun, Arky’s going to beat aTm in the Second Most Disgusting Cocktail Party.

Patrick Sawyer

I am not going to overthink or draw this out. Alabama is, at worst, one of the top 5 teams in college football. Vanderbilt is not top 25. Maybe not top 50. Yet. The Commodores appear to be headed in the right direction. This game will not give them a chance to show it.

The final score is probably more about how soon the Tide go deep into the bench and go very vanilla on offense than anything else. Except maybe how turnover prone Vanderbilt is.

The Pick: Vanderbilt 10, Alabama 52
The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: Arkansas takes down the cult of milk men. A&M's offense has struggled against App State and Miami. Arkansas has had struggles defensively but is putting up points. I'll take the better offense because the Aggies may stop themselves even if Arkansas plays poor defense.

Cole Sullivan

Oooo I really want to say I think we’ll win just because I think that way. I mean, we are starting a new quarterback coming off an SEC Freshman of the Week performance, bringing back a few contributors from injury/suspension, and my family is all Bama fans so it would be an all-time gloating moment. BUT, I know that it is extremely unlikely. ESPN gives us just a 1.4% chance to topple Bama. But oh how glorious it would be to hear the announcer declare “DOWN. GOES. BAMA.” or even better in my opinion, something cheesy like “The Commodores prove their sealegs and weather the Tide.” If our defense plays the best game of every single one of their lives, I don’t see why it couldn’t happen.

The Pick(s):
Wishfully? Vanderbilt 42 - Bama 38
Realistically? Vanderbilt 13 - Bama 54

The SEC Upset Pick of the Week: South Carolina is overrated. Spence Rattle is bad. Charlotte is underrated. Chris Reynolds is good. Need proof? Charlotte 1) scored more against Georgia State, 2) gained more yards both on the ground and in the air against Georgia State, and 3) turned the ball over less against Georgia State than South Carolina did. Sure, they also let Georgia State score more, but the South Carolina defense is coming off two straight weeks of thrashing by Arkansas and Georgia. They will be tired and morally beaten-down. I think Charlotte can play their game, limit South Carolina’s blocked punt touchdowns, further rattle an already rattled Rattle, capitalize on momentum coming off last week’s win, and eventually upset this South Carolina team. It’s close, though.

Charlotte 35 - South Carolina 31