Alabama football's 21-6 road win over Vanderbilt wasn't pretty, but the key word is "win." Despite a generally shaky performance on offense and an inability to put the game completely out of reach late, the Crimson Tide were named one national outlet's biggest winner from Week 11.
That's because Alabama (unofficially) made the College Football Playoff with its sloppy victory at Vanderbilt, USA TODAY Sports and longtime college football analyst Paul Myerberg said.
The veteran scribe named the Crimson Tide his biggest winner from Week 11 following the Tide's triumph in Nashville.
"(T)he Crimson Tide are basically a lock for at least an at-large playoff berth after beating Vanderbilt 21-6 to move to 9-2. After being No. 5 in the debut playoff committee
rankings, Alabama moved to No. 3 last Tuesday and has enough room to lose once more and still finish in the top 11 of the final rankings.
"Its final two games come against Chattanooga and Auburn. Based on the idea that Alabama would have to lose twice to miss the playoff, do you think the Crimson Tide are losing to a Championship Subdivision team? If it would take an embarrassing loss to Auburn at home, do you think that’s realistic?
"They’re probably not losing once anyway." --Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports.
3 takeaways from Alabama's road win vs. Vanderbilt
— Roll Tide Wire (@RollTideWire) November 15, 2026
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Myerberg, who joined USA TODAY in 2012 and previously covered college football for The New York Times, concedes that Alabama's win over Vanderbilt wasn't pretty.
He doesn't say this part, but if you watched any of Alabama's various road trips to Mississippi State the week after playing a high-stakes game against LSU for many years under Nick Saban, you often saw a team either struggle to get a win at Davis Wade Stadium or at bare minimum look ugly doing so.
Alabama-Vanderbilt had the same vibes Saturday at FirstBank Stadium.
Keelon Russell not only started after speculation about his ankle all week, he played the entire game against the Commodores. Russell was 22 of 33 for 217 yards with three touchdowns. He threw an interception, lost a fumble, and took a sack on fourth down that resulted in a turnover on downs.
But Alabama's stingy defense made sure Vanderbilt didn't get into the end zone. Kane Wommack's unit allowed just 10 first downs and 235 yards of total offense. The Commodores twice had the ball inside the Crimson Tide 15-yard line and came away with zero points both times.
Vanderbilt had three turnovers on downs and also missed a field goal on its final four drives. It finished 2 of 15 on third down and was 1 for 4 on fourth down.
Myerberg added:
"The Tide have rebounded well from back-to-back losses to No. 1 Georgia and No. 9 Tennessee, including a very impressive road win last Saturday against No. 22 LSU that saw them easily pull away in the fourth quarter.
"All it will take is a split. That puts Alabama at the top of the biggest winners and losers from Week 12."
It also puts Alabama in the College Football Playoff for the second straight year under Kalen DeBoer, barring a disastrous final two weeks.
Alabama football schedule 2026
All times Central.
- Sept. 5: vs. East Carolina Pirates (W, 48-10)
- Sept. 12: at Kentucky Wildcats (W, 45-17)
- Sept. 19: vs. Florida State Seminoles (W, 50-36)
- Sept. 26: vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (W, 49-18)
- Oct. 3: at Mississippi State Bulldogs (W, 56-23)
- Oct. 10: vs. Georgia Bulldogs (L, 20-17)
- Oct. 17: at Tennessee Volunteers (L, 26-10)
- Oct. 24: vs. Texas A&M Aggies (W, 31-20)
- Nov. 7: at LSU Tigers (W, 31-13)
- Nov. 14: at Vanderbilt Commodores (W, 21-6)
- Nov. 21: vs. Chattanooga Mocs, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
- Nov. 28: vs. Auburn Tigers, TBA
Record: 8-2, 6-2 SEC.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama football is USA TODAY Sports biggest winner from Week 11. Why?
