The concerns...
Vandy has an older, veteran team.... tons of 5th year and Grad Sr. players. Overall, this is a generational team for Vandy.
Alabama's injury/depth issues at EDGE plus James Smith missing the first half vs. a heavy run team. Not ideal.
Vandy runs a ton of play action (1/3 of their pass plays are PA) and misdirection, even with things like screens. Like Bama, they utilize pre snap motion heavily. UA defenders have been way too susceptible to eye candy, and they've been over aggressive at times... if that keeps up tomorrow, Vandy will move the chains at will. I'll add, they attack the boundary with runs and dump off passes more than Bama does... both teams will use screens, but Vandy uses the eye candy to try and create space outside the tackles, and it usually gets them easy yards. But nearly every play they run on offense has at least some degree of deception... even their draw play runs are out of the ordinary. And yes, they will try the shovel pass to see if Bama can stop it. Same with some various option plays.
On Pavia specifically, it's easier said than done obviously, but putting pressure on him in the pocket is when he gets uncomfortable and forces things. He doesn't like taking sacks and doesn't like throwing the ball away. They roll him out of the pocket a lot, but when he drops straight back, he becomes vulnerable. All 3 of his interceptions this season have come when he's been under pressure.
The positives...
DeBoer vs. A ranked team. DeBoer's guys usually win.
DeBoer & Alabama playing at home. DeBoer's guys and Alabama usually win.
Bray Hubbard is built for this type of game, and you'll recall he was mostly a special teams contributor only last season up until the Tennessee game when he was forced into action. He played 1 defensive snap against Vandy last year. This year, barring injury, he won't come off the field. They moved him around a good bit last week in Athens, and you can expect more of that against the Commodores. He's Bama's Defensive Pavia.
There was discussion previously in this thread about Deontae Lawson and him moving outside to EDGE some. IMO, we will absolutely see some of that tomorrow, I think Wommack basically admitted as much in his press conference earlier this week. Remember, it was after the Vandy debacle last year that Jihaad Campbell's reps at OLB really ramped up (he didn't really play outside against Vandy). But it is a spot that Lawson has been getting reps at for a while, even going back to last season in some cases. Which brings me to my next point...
Bama (defensively) has been adjusting to and working on improving against Vandy's offense since they played last year. Additionally, the FSU game and postgame cleanup will prove to be valuable reps for Bama's defense as they take on Vandy again tomorrow.
I like where Bama is at offensively right now and I like the trajectory of the team overall since week 1. I feel good about the Ty Simpson and Ryan Grubb partnership. Sure looks like we are seeing some actual leadership emerge on the field for the first time in a long time. They've fooled me before, so I'm still hesitant to believe much until I see much... but I do like the track they are on. If they stay on it, they'll be just fine.
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