After Alabama football's 41-34 win against then-No. 1 Georgia on Saturday night, the general message was for the Crimson Tide to act like it had been there before, that wins against the Bulldogs are the expectation and that the work isn't finished after one signature win.
With the appearance of a Victor-branded rat trap on the floor of the Mal Moore Athletic Facility Monday ahead of Saturday's meeting against Vanderbilt , that message continues to be loud and clear for the Crimson Tide moving forward.
"Looking forward to tomorrow morning and a great practice, should be full of energy," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday to open his news conference. "It needs to be the best Tuesday we've ever had just because that's the way we have to approach each and every opportunity."
What Kalen DeBoer thoughts of Alabama-Georgia atmosphere
Kane Wommack explains Alabama defense collapse
It's a message that worked throughout the Nick Saban era. In games that followed Alabama ranked wins since 2007, the Crimson Tide posted a record of 62-11.
In 2023, Alabama beat unranked Mississippi State , No. 13 LSU and unranked Kentucky after ranked wins against No. 15 Ole Miss , No. 15 Tennessee and the Tigers . The Crimson Tide lost to No. 1 Michigan in the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Rose Bowl coming off a 27-24 win against No. 1 Georgia in the SEC Championship.
Ahead of the Crimson Tide's 2023 win against Kentucky, Saban and his staff set up Victor-branded rat traps around the facility like DeBoer and his staff did before Saturday's game against the Commodores .
But Alabama is not coming off just any ranked victory.
Saturday's win against No. 1 Georgia is the Crimson Tide's first regular-season win against a top-five opponent since Oct. 17, 2020, when Alabama beat the Bulldogs 41-24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The next week, a three-touchdown performance by Najee Harris and a 387-yard game by quarterback Mac Jones helped the Crimson Tide to a 48-17 drubbing of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Since 2007, Alabama has played in six games after wins against top-five opponents. The Crimson Tide has won all but one, losing to No. 14 Texas A&M on Nov. 10, 2012, after beating No. 5 LSU the week before.
Of those five Alabama wins, none was decided by less than three touchdowns.
Heading into Alabama's road matchup with Vanderbilt coming off a 7-point win against Georgia, the Crimson Tide are 23.5-point favorites against the Commodores per BetMGM.
Despite the large spread and the national reputation, the Alabama coaching staff made it clear its not resting on the success against Georgia.
"We've got to do a great job of going from a game that had a lot of attention and a lot of momentum swings and found a way to win, to do the same thing over and over again," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. "Success, if you allow it, will breathe complacency into your program. You have to fight to be able to play to the standard week in and week out. That's certainly going to be the challenge for us this week."
It's a challenge Alabama plans to "trap."
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: Alabama football record in 'trap' games after ranked wins
