Alabama’s win over the Georgia Bulldogs was a statement win, but it wasn't the full story.

Because just a year ago in Kalen DeBoer’s first season, he was in this same exact situation.

Beat Georgia in a heart-stopping game, and then the next week take on Vanderbilt.

It shouldn’t sound so daunting, but it is. Last season, the Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs in an all out shootout by the score of 41-34, and then the next week lost 40-35 to Vanderbilt in Nashville.

It was an ugly look for the program, and it was an even uglier look on DeBoer. For years, Vanderbilt was the red-headed step child of the SEC. Even Nick Saban told Pat McAfee last season that Vanderbilt was the easiest stadium to play in during his time as coach.

So, no, this isn’t just another game. This is Alabama defeating the ghost of its past. Rectifying the mistakes that were made just a season ago. And DeBoer knows how to get his guys ready for it.

When asked if last season the Tide didn’t take Vanderbilt seriously, DeBoer acknowledged that it could be true.

“I'm not going to argue against that," DeBoer said in his Monday press conference. "You've got to handle success and you've got to come back every single week in this league… You've got to reload mentally, physically, emotionally to during the week get prepared at the highest level you possibly can and go play ball… So yeah, we didn't handle success last year well. You can't argue that. I also think they did a nice job executing in critical times and made plays. No different this week, right? And our success that we had on Saturday, none of it matters. None of it carries over.”

DeBoer once again mentioned that his team needs to be intentional and to move with purpose. It’s the message he’s had branded into every player's brains ever since Week 1.

It’s a game that we’ve talked about ad nauseum here on Roundtable, but it’s such an important game for the future of the program.

Had the Crimson Tide not gotten kicked in the mouth in Tallahassee, who’s to know what this team would’ve been like?

It was a humbling defeat, and one that the coaching staff refuses to let go of. Because at that point, the outside noise was seeping in, and it was DeBoer’s job to put an end to it.

It’s almost like a Saban-technique, where he would refer to outside noise and commentary as “rat poison.”

The second you let any of that noise into your head, it’s going to affect your play one way or another – and then you become a liability.

For DeBoer, he followed his own rules and was intentional on not letting that get into his locker room.

“[We] just got to continue to keep the focus on us. Have to keep ignoring the noise, that's been a huge strength that's become of our football team and they've got to continue to do that. Some guys continue to learn what it takes to come each and every week to play football here in the SEC."

Kickoff against Vanderbilt takes place on Saturday, October 4th at 3:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 CT and will be broadcasted on ABC.