When Vanderbilt comes to Bryant-Denny Stadium , the attention will fall on Diego Pavia , on a Commodores offense that scored 40 points against Alabama football in 2024 and a unit that has scored 245 points in its first five games, good for the fourth-best scoring offense in college football.
As the Crimson Tide prepares to host Vanderbilt , little to no outside attention has been on the Commodores defense, a unit that allows 17.2 points per game: the best scoring defense Alabama has seen all season.
To Alabama coach Kalen DeBoe r, Vanderbilt brings an impressive defensive unit in with a defensive-minded head coach in Clark Lea.
"They're sound, they pick and choose their times to be really aggressive and come after you," DeBoer said on the SEC coaches teleconference. "But they play team football. And they get off the field and get the ball back to their offense. There's a physicality that they have getting their assignments sound. Just everyone does a good job focusing on their job. They get guys on the ground. They are good tacklers."
Miles Capers has become one of the top defensive ends in the SEC.
Through five games, the redshirt senior leads the conference with eight tackles-for-loss. He also has 3.5 sacks, a pass deflection, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Capers leads a Vanderbilt defense that has 14 sacks in five games, tied with South Carolina and Texas A&M for fourth most in the conference.
"They're great up front," Alabama tight end Josh Cuevas said. "Well coached. A lot of talent up front. A lot of good discipline among their D-line. It's going to be a good battle up front."
Alabama knows the havoc Capers can bring. The Commodores defensive end recorded a sack and forced a fumble against the Crimson Tide in 2024.
Opposing offenses have not been able to easily run on Vanderbilt.
The Commodores have the third-best run defense in the SEC, and the 12th-best nationally, allowing 79.8 rushing yards per game and 3.02 rushing yards per touch. Vanderbilt is one of four SEC teams to have allowed two rushing touchdowns or less in 2025 along with Missouri , Auburn and Oklahoma , each of which Alabama will see this season.
No back has had more than 74 rushing yards in a game against Vanderbilt's defense.
Vanderbilt is one of 55 teams in college football that allow less than 200 passing yards per game.
Through five games, the Commodores pass defense has allowed 199 passing yards per game, with opposing quarterbacks averaging 5.92 yards per pass attempt and 9.05 yards per completion.
Vanderbilt has a stable of players on defense who get their hands on the football. Twelve different Commodores defenders have at least one pass deflection in five games, while linebacker Bryant Longwell, defensive lineman Khordae Sydnor, safety Randon Fontenette and cornerback Kolbey Taylor each have two.
The only team Alabama has faced with a better pass defense than Vanderbilt was Florida State , which is ranked with the 40th-best pass defense nationally. The Crimson Tide had 254 passing yards and two touchdowns against the Seminoles .
Alabama kicks off against Vanderbilt at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday. Oct. 4 on ABC.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: What Vanderbilt defense could bring against Alabama football
