Sep 27, 2025; Athens, Georgia, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer looks on before the game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Kalen DeBoer Says Alabama Learned from 2024 Upset Against Vanderbilt

Originally posted on Alabama Crimson Tide on SI
By Will Miller | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 1:27 PM ET

Alabama football had a number of preseason goals entering the 2025 campaign. One of them was not to lose to Vanderbilt again. The Commodores were the first team to beat Kalen DeBoer during his Alabama tenure, taking a 40-35 win on home field against the then-No. 1 Crimson Tide last fall.

"Everything you do is about learning," DeBoer said Wednesday during the SEC coaches' teleconference. "Everything you've been through together is about taking what you've been through, taking what you see from other people, and applying it to be the best you can be."

Vanderbilt's win over Alabama last season was the first for the program in the series in four decades. The last meeting prior to last October, which took place on Sept. 24, 2022, was won 55-3 by the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. This season's edition (Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC) has garnered more pregame attention, including a visit from ESPN's "College GameDay" and a sellout.

"It's about moving forward. When you make mistakes, you own it, you accept it if it's something just happened [that's] unfortunately not in your favor," DeBoer said. "You always move forward, I think our guys have done a great job of balancing, having an edge, and also learning from what we've been through."

A major similarity to last season is that the schedule lined up exactly the same way: a big game against Georgia, and then another conference tilt with the Commodores a week later. In both 2024 and 2025, the Crimson Tide defeated the Bulldogs, winning 24-21 in Athens this past weekend.

"[They're] not trying to make the same mistakes twice. Whatever that might be. Schematically, just mindset-wise, going into a week of practice and a game," DeBoer said. "Any and all of the above. Proud of the way the guys have responded. I knew they cared. Just needed to make sure that everyone's heading the same direction... so we can execute at a high level."

Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, one of the architects of the Commodores' 2024 victory over DeBoer and company, believes his team can spring another big upset this year. The No. 16 Commodores (5-0, 1-0 SEC) are unbeaten while No. 10 Alabama (3-1, 1-0 SEC) is not; the opppsite was true last season.

"We just gotta play within the white lines. If we do that, if we play our game, it won’t be close," Pavia said.