Paul Finebaum explains what Alabama's loss to Vanderbilt means for Kalen DeBoer

Vanderbilt shocked the nation with a 40-35 win over No. 1 ranked Alabama this weekend in their biggest victory in program history. But where does the loss leave the Crimson Tide and new head coach Kalen DeBoer moving forward?

Alabama drops from the top-ranked team in the country to No. 7 in the most recent AP Poll. Losing to the Commodores for the first time since 1984 following an incredible win over No. 2 ranked Georgia. A situation that college football analyst Paul Finebaum recently put into context on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning for DeBoer.

“Yeah, there is tremendous overreaction and that’s natural,” Finebaum said. “But what people are going to focus on now isn’t what happened a week ago and what happened Saturday, it’s the last six quarters defensively, which has been atrocious. And he [DeBoer] is capable, he’s the same coach he was a week ago beating Georgia.”

“I don’t think this game is going to matter that much in the new world order that we live in,” Finebaum added. “It’s simply a matter of making the math work to get to the playoffs, and if Alabama gets to the playoffs, this game will fade. It will be one of those asterisks that we talk about in past tense. I don’t exactly know what happened last week.”

After getting out to an early 28-0 lead against the Bulldogs last week, the Crimson Tide gave up 34 points in three quarters before reclaiming the lead late in the fourth quarter and securing a signature win. Which they followed by giving up 40 points to the Commodores in what’s been a rough stretch for the Alabama defense. A moment where the highest of highs one weekend was followed by the lowest of lows this past Saturday.

“I talked to Kalen DeBoer on Wednesday, and he was trying to move on from the Georgia game. The problem was it was impossible to move on Greg. And is that the reason they played so poorly? Is that the reason that it looked like Vanderbilt was the more physical team?” Finebaum asked. “I don’t have any idea.”

Upset losses of this magnitude for a program like Alabama come with numerous reasons and rationale from outsiders looking in from off-the-field distractions to coach or player execution on the field. But Finebaum narrowed it down to one issue that’s not common in Tuscaloosa that DeBoer will definitely want to focus on moving forward in year one.

“Well first of all, Alabama just looks undisciplined. And I think what I think is also going to happen is DeBoer’s reaction to Malachi Moore to me that’s not what fans wanted to hear they wanted to hear something stern. That’s when the DeBoer-Saban comparison started coming,” Finebaum explained. “He gave a very passive response to something that I’ve seen snippets of it, everybody probably thinks they know more about it than they really do and that’s just what happens.”

“And everybody will have their own theories and I’m not sure if any of the theories will be correct. What Kalen DeBoer does in Knoxville, 12 days from now, is going to ultimately be a lot more important than what happened Saturday in Nashville.”

Alabama’s last six quarters of football were riddled with penalties, mistakes, and certain players letting their emotions get the best of them. But with plenty of season still remaining, there’s no doubt that the Crimson Tide still have room to improve and goals to achieve ahead of them if they can shake Saturdays’ upset.