NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Vanderbilt Commodores have never beaten a No. 1 team in football .
Thanks to a very fast start, they are putting themselves in position to do just that. Or at least scare the Alabama Crimson Tide by taking their biggest lead ever over a top-ranked team. Vanderbilt led Alabama 23-14 at halftime after scoring the first 13 points and took a 16-point lead that was the Commodores' largest ever over the No.
1 team in the country. Only the Tide scoring late trimmed that to single digits. Alabama just moved to the top of The Associated Press' Top 25 after a big win over Georgia .
The Tide won the opening toss and deferred. Vanderbilt, which hasn't beaten Alabama on the field since 1984, immediately drove down the field for a 7-yard touchdown run by Sedrick Alexander to take the lead. It was the first time since 2007 Vandy had opened a game against Alabama with a TD, and that was Nick Saban's second game as coach.
Alabama rallied and won that day 24-10. This time, the Tide (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) helped Vanderbilt pad that lead. Jalen Milroe , who put himself among the top Heisman Trophy candidates with his play against Georgia, had his second pass tipped into the air by De'Rickey Wright who committed to Alabama and wound up at Vanderbilt.
Randon Fontenette grabbed the ball and ran 24 yards to the end zone for the Pick-6 and a 13-0 lead at 8:03 of the first quarter. Jam Miller capped a seven-play drive for Alabama with an 8-yard TD run as the T.