With Vandy turning the tide, it’s now Alabama with all the questions

For head coach Clark Lea, quarterback Diego Pavia and all of Vanderbilt football — previously 0-60 against top-five opponents — it was the result of a dream that seemed ridiculously too big from the outside, but from the inside…maybe not.

For Alabama, ranked No. 1 and fresh off a thrilling win over Georgia, it was a nightmarish performance that could have postseason implications even here in the expanded 12-team playoffs.

Vandy 40, Alabama 35… and a party in the party city of Nashville.

Lea slowly built up the Commodores. But four years into his reign, he desperately needed a credibility win that went beyond what hardcore fans could see. After all, Vandy went 0-8 in SEC play a year ago.

In Pavia, the troubled transfer from New Mexico State, he may have found his perfect partner – a 6-foot-1, 200-pound, clenched fist of combat who the vaunted Crimson Tide saw as an opportunity. How does 16 of 20 for 252 and two touchdowns work? How’s it going with another 57?

Vanderbilt didn’t just beat Alabama; it destroyed the flood. It outscored Alabama (418-394) and outrebounded Alabama (166-84). It converted 12 of 18 third downs and went one-for-one on fourth down. Some of these were straight effort plays with runners looking for extra yards.

Vanderbilt dominated time of possession, holding the ball 42:08. Marinate on it for a second.

“This is a dream…” Lea said afterwards on the SEC Network. “Too much to say now. I am proud of our team. I believe in our team. I believe in what we are building. For us, there’s more than that. This isn’t an end point, but it’s one heck of an arrival.”

That wasn’t a coincidence. This is what Lea expects from Vandy and she knows it can be that way. It’ll never have the 5-star appeal of the Tide, but if you line up and fight, he’ll take his chances.

And that may be the scariest part for Alabama.

If it can’t physically dominate Vanderbilt, can it sustain the rest of the season? Just a week ago, they won an epic matchup with Georgia, but it came after blowing a 28-0 lead and required the preternatural acrobatic talents of freshman Ryan Williams (who went all out again against Vandy).

Is this Tide team — is this Kalen DeBoer team — built for the battles ahead, including at least three playoff rounds and, now perhaps for Alabama, four?

One of Nick Saban’s greatest attributes was his ability to get his team focused on the task at hand – regardless of the opponent, regardless of the style of play, regardless of the situation. So he won and won and won, including in all four games in which his Alabama teams played Vanderbilt. They won with a total of 172:13.

“I think we have a great football team,” DeBoer said. “We weren’t at our best today. We’re really going to find out how much we care about each other.”

While all of Alabama looks for clues.

This is a different Commodore team, but also a different Alabama team; offensively looser and more creative. It can be fun. In the long run there should be many victories. However, the standards are the standards – and watching Vandy storm the field is not one of them.

Alabama is far from finished. However, it’s 1-1 in the SEC with little room for error, and the Tide still has Tennessee and a road game at LSU on the schedule. No one knows how the selection committee will factor in so-called “bad losses” — that is, when 3-2 Vanderbilt is closer to .500. Maybe Vandy will start picking up wins and that won’t look so bad. The Tide can only hope.

New coach, new team, new era and new feelings – or at least ones that hadn’t been experienced since Saban’s arrival.

How good are these guys? How reliable are these people? If Vandy can muscle them up, what about the Vols and Tigers and so on? Ryan Williams can only be so dominant.

Alabama landed at No. 1 overall. After 10 straight losses to top teams, Vandy turned its program around with a performance for the ages.

Now it’s Alabama with all the questions and no one sure of the answers.