Alabama Made Things Far Too Close for Comfort Against Vanderbilt

The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores by a score of 21-6 on Saturday to improve to 8-2 on the season, and while they avoided what would have been a devastating loss, it wasn't pretty.

Alabama fell behind 3-0 in the second quarter and did not score until right before the half, when Keelon Russell threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Marshall Pritchett.

The Crimson Tide's defense then held serve in the second half, holding Vanderbilt to just three more points the rest of the way. But the offense didn't exactly light it up.

Russell went 22-for-33 with 217 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, but most of that came during the second half.

Alabama punted on its first three drives of the game, turned the ball over on downs on the next and then watched as Russell threw a pick on the fifth drive.

It was yet another incredibly sloppy first half for the Crimson Tide in what has been a season full of them, and on Saturday, they were bailed out because they were playing a very, very inferior team.

Vanderbilt fell to 4-6 with the loss, and it is just 1-6 in the SEC. It's one of the worst teams in the conference, and if we're being honest, Alabama should have won this game in a runaway.

Luckily, 'Bama does not have any more ranked opponents on its schedule. It will take on Chattanooga next weekend before hosting Auburn in the final game of the regular season. But that rivalry matchup with Auburn will be tricky, and does anyone really trust the Crimson Tide to go on a CFP run at this point?

There is no question Alabama is talented, and it was nice to see Ryan Coleman-Williams put together a solid performance in his second game back from arthroscopic knee surgery. This club should be a championship contender.

And based on the fact that the Tide are ranked No. 3 in the country, you would think they are. But there's no question something is missing.

Perhaps it's just inexperience, both from the quarterback position and other areas. Maybe it's a lack of killer instinct, which starts with the coaching staff. Or perhaps the rest of the country has just caught up.

Whatever the case may be, you can't help but walk away feeling a bit underwhelmed by the way Alabama played on Saturday.

A win is a win at the end of the day, but style points do matter, and the Crimson Tide certainly didn't record any of those versus Vanderbilt.