After a huge win over Georgia last weekend, many expected a slow start from Alabama. But spotting Vanderbilt two touchdowns to open the game wasn’t really on the bingo card.

The Dores drove it right down Bama’s throat, and then on the Tide’s first possession, Ryan Williams was tackled before the ball arrived, and the subsequent deflection led to a pick-6.

Alabama’s offense did score the next time they got the ball, but then the defense gave up a 10-minute scoring drive by having two players wearing #2 on a punt, giving Vandy a free first down, then two more 3rd down stops were wiped away with a facemask penalty and a very dubious roughing the passer penalty.

Alabama’s offense scored one more time, but the defense gave up another longer drive for a field goal.

The Tide almost got the ball back with a chance to score before halftime, but a 3rd and long shovel pass tricked the whole defense, and Vandy got a 30-yard gain to close out the half.

Ultimately, Alabama’s offense generally played fine, but they barely saw the field between the pick-6 and the defense giving up three very long drives.

The defense? Awful. It was an inexcusable first half performance for them… And the same goes for the special teams.

Hopefully, the first half is a wakeup call for the team that just beat UGA. A 9-point deficit can be easily overcome, but the margin for error just got a whole lot smaller to avoid becoming a national laughing stock.