Within a day, Alabama football became deadly with the loss to Vanderbilt

Even a few Alabama fans joined the rush onto the field that Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt$100,000.

“Why not?” one of them asked, shrugging his shoulders after a loss not seen since 1984.

The stairs to the Shaw Sports Legion 46 artificial turf at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville were jammed as the Commodore faithful celebrated, both on the gridiron and in the few areas of the stands not filled with Crimson Tide fans. A clip of Nick Saban providing material for the bulletin board played on a continuous loop from the video board.

“The only place to play in the SEC that isn’t difficult to play is Vanderbilt.”

After remembering that the Saban era of Alabama football and the invincibility that came with it had now reached Coach Bryant, the sound system played the clean version of David Guetta and Bebe Rexha's “I'm Good (Blue).” The fans, who until a few minutes ago had been outnumbered by numerous Crimson shirts, began jumping in unison to the French DJ's dance pop.

I'm fine, yeah, I'm fine/ Baby, I'm having the best damn night of my life/ And wherever it takes me, I'm with it/ Baby, don't you know that I'm fine, yeah , I'm doing well

The loss ended the honeymoon period for Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer. His first loss came against a team that scored 13 UA points throughout the Nick Saban era, the SEC's ultimate cellar dwellers.

To make matters worse, his team appeared undisciplined, the cardinal sin under Saban. Most visibly, fifth-grader and team captain Malachi Moore kicked the football after referees spotted it before Vanderbilt's final kneel, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.

“He was a lot better when he came into the locker room,” DeBoer said. “The guy just puts everything into what he does. That doesn't make it okay, and we want to be top notch in everything we do. And there are a lot of people who are really frustrated.”

However, it wasn't just that moment. Alabama couldn't stop Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt.

No Crimson Tide coach named Mike has ever lost to VU. It hadn't even scored a touchdown against Alabama since 2007, when Ryan Williams was seven months old.

The Tide missed tackles on crucial third downs when it had to leave the field. When he managed to get a stop, two number two players were on the field at the same time to punt, extending the Commodore drive and bagging a touchdown for the home team.

Even Moore himself, the captain so angry that his team had lost to a school with an active stadium construction site, suffered severe burns on one of Vanderbilt's touchdowns and completely lost possession of the ball and receiver in the third quarter.

“There are some things that we're going to look back on tomorrow and be really frustrated about,” DeBoer said. “You don't like to talk about what ifs, and that's the situation we're going to be dealing with.”

You know I'm up for anything tonight/ I don't need the finer things in life/ No matter where I go, it's a good time, yeah/ And I don't have to sit in the VIP area/ In the middle of the action floor, there I will be

It took the Vanderbilt fans a few minutes to break down the goalposts. After finally breaking apart, leaving a tattered base with a High Noon lime can next to it, students and other revelers carried it out of the stadium, more than two miles down Broadway.

They threw the yellow jewelry into the Cumberland River. Metro Nashville police closed the street for them along the way.

Back at the stadium, Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea had to hold back tears.

“I haven’t been emotional so far,” he said at the start of his press conference. “Of course I get emotional when I stand in front of you.”

For Lea, the victory was the highlight of her four years of work. He's from Nashville and lives in a city full of transplants. He returned to his alma mater in 2021, but progress in rebuilding the program appeared slow.

Then, in its fourth season, Vanderbilt showed signs of life, beating Virginia Tech early in the campaign and taking Missouri to double overtime before facing the Tide.

All it took was the perfect game plan.

“We knew we had to limit the possessions,” Lea said. “This is an explosive offense. It’s a good Alabama team.”

Vanderbilt, Vanderbiltjust sat on Alabama. The Crimson Tide had just 10 possessions and ran 46 plays while the Commodores played 75.

Some of the big plays were there for UA as usual. Despite all the limitations caused by a longstanding defensive weakness, the offense still managed 35 points.

But with only 17:52 left to play, the Tide didn't have enough chances.

Against a competent Vanderbilt team that made no mistakes, it spelled disaster.

“We have to live up to the standard of Script A every week,” offensive guard Tyler Booker said. “And we obviously didn’t do that today.”

So I just let it go, let it go/ Oh, na-na-na-na-na/ No, I don't care, I don't care/ Oh, na-na-na-na-na

Alabama has to move on from here, but it's been exposed.

Sure, the squad remains talented enough to make a breakthrough. And of course, it beat Georgia in a thriller last week. But since halftime of this game, the flaws have been so obvious.

When Saban was coaching the team, Bo Wallace needed passes bouncing off helmets, kick sixes and Stephen Garcia's Super Saiyan to defeat the Tide.

Under DeBoer, the only key to victory seems to be a good plan of attack. That won't work in Tuscaloosa.

The 2010 LSU game was the last time visiting fans did not storm the field after the win over Alabama. If DeBoer and Co. start losing even more, the crowd of fans on the field will disappear.

If even Vanderbilt, Vanderbiltcan defeat the Crimson Tide, why bother?