Alabama players give Diego Pavia a taste of his own medicine in postgame skirmish following dominant win against Vanderbilt
Alabama made sure to let it’s play do the talking against Vanderbilt.
One of the worst losses in the history of the Alabama Crimson Tide occurred a year ago this week. Fresh off a decisive win over the Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama flopped against an unranked Vandy team in Nashville.
Well, the Tide had this one circled ever since the clock hit zero during their final game last season. They needed zero extra motivation. They knew that allowing Vandy to come into Tuscaloosa and win was not an option.
But Diego Pavia made their lives easier this week when he said, “The crowd, I think, is going to be a big factor in the game. But we just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close.”
Well, he was right, but it was on the other side of the equation, and Alabama let him hear about it.
Alabama silences Diego Pavia with a dominant defensive performance in Tuscaloosa
At one point, the game was 14-7 Vandy, and the feeling was “here we go again.” However, Alabama scored before halftime, and the team never looked back. Vandy was shut out after scoring 14 points in the first half, with Pavia turning the ball over twice in the red zone. Vandy had 113 yards rushing in the first quarter and 135 when the lights went out. And Alabama let Pavia know about it after the game.
“Just the discipline,” said HC Kalen DeBoer when asked how the defense slowed down Pavia and Vandy after the first quarter. “[The] hardest ones are when he takes off and runs and then still keeps his eyes downfield. You’re kind of drawn to him. You come off your man, especially in zones. And I know they got a couple first downs that way.”
DeBoer and his players won’t tell you, but they knew what Pavia said during the week, and they knew what Pavia did pregame, when he practiced victory formation as if he owned Nick Saban Field at Bryant-Denny.
“The thing I’m really proud [about] is our guys right now are just showing up and doing the work. That’s what’s got us to this point. And [I] just keep reminding them, I’m sure it’ll be something, you know, something that pops up,” added DeBoer when asked about the noise surrounding the game. “But they’re doing a really good job of just showing up and doing the work and focusing on us.”
If Alabama can run the ball like that, make defensive adjustments the way it did, and just focus on itself the way DeBoer suggests, it’s all out in front of them.
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