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Expectations are a way of life for Alabama football, which is to be expected. After all, the debate over the sport's greatest coach comes down to the man whose name is on the stadium vs. the man whose name is on the field.
There is no loser there.
You almost always expect Alabama to win, but after the epic triumph against Georgia, you weren't looking for perfection as the Crimson Tide rolled into Vanderbilt's construction site as the No. 1 team in the AP poll.
You expected a letdown, not a breakdown bordering on a meltdown. You expected a struggle, not an insult to the defensive tradition of Ken Donahue, Bill Oliver and Kirby Smart.
You expected a slow start and an eventual awakening, just enough Jalen Milroe jiu jitsu and Ryan Williams wizardry to leave Music City with an unimpressive victory against an improved corps of Commodores.
Instead you got Vanderbilt 40, Alabama 35, which earned its place in infamy among the worst defeats in Crimson Tide history. It doesn't really matter where it ranks on your personal list of Woe Tide outings, but you can make a convincing case that it belongs at the very bottom. ...
Rea