NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt is ready for its showdown with top-ranked Alabama, the moment that Commodores Coach Derek Mason has been working toward since arriving on campus.
“We relish the opportunity,” Mason said. “We’re going to play good teams in this conference, but we don’t fear anybody in this conference. That’s what you sign up for when you come to the SEC. Nobody wants to be the doormat of the SEC. If that’s the case, then you have to be about the work to build a solid foundation to be able to compete.”
Vanderbilt was the league’s cellar dweller with splashes of success. Coach Bobby Johnson, then James Franklin — now at Penn State — took the Commodores to bowl games, had winning records and a few upsets of ranked teams. Now the Commodores (3-0) find themselves one of the SEC’s five remaining undefeated teams, including Alabama (3-0), in Mason’s fourth season — fresh off upsetting then-No. 18 Kansas State 14-7. Vanderbilt has won seven of its last 10 games and upset the last two Top 25 teams it has played.
Mix that with a defense that’s the nation’s stingiest in points, yards and against the pass, it’s a combination Alabama Coach Nick Saban appreciates. Saban also thinks the Commodores deserve to be ranked going into the SEC opener for both teams this afternoon.
“He’s got a really good team,” Saban said of Mason. “They play well. They’re really well-coached. They play hard, physical, tough. They’ve got very good schemes on offense and defense and special teams, so when you watch the film you see a really good team that’s really well coached, and I think Derek deserves a lot of credit for that.”