Losing to Vanderbilt, though, constitutes a collapse, an inability to clear the SEC’s lowest hurdle, not the highest bar, a failure to win a game in which then-No. 2 Alabama was a 24-point favorite.

Kalen DeBoer knows fans who celebrated six national titles in Nick Saban’s 17 seasons won’t soon forget the 40-35 loss in Nashville, but the players can’t afford to dwell.