Why did Alabama lose to Vanderbilt? Here's one plausible theory

Alabama breezed past their first four matches but clearly struggled in their fifth against Vanderbilt.

As upsetting as the 34-40 loss was, it propelled Kalen DeBoer and Co. to re-assess their successes. Earlier, on the Paul Finebaum show , DeBoer spilled the beans on how he flawlessly won in his first four games.

DeBoer's key to acing the next game is to ensure that there is closure after each game especially mentally. DeBoer revealed how the Bama players have leveraged this mentality in the season so far.

"The guys bring a work ethic that is amazing and fun to be around. The guys you know have the thing I've really been impressed with, they're able to flush it and move on to the next task and that next week is the most important game," DeBoer explained to Finebaum how his team embraces the future instead of dwelling on the past.

What happened against Vanderbilt?

The best bet is that the Crimson Tide players never overcame the loss to Georgia.

The first three games were tests for Alabama. The one against Georgia was a full-fledged battle, a rivalry victory that was more important than all the previous games combined.

Per the words of Saban , beating the Commodores was supposed to be a piece of cake. It was anything but easy-- which is precisely why the Tide were swept away.

Whatever the case might be, DeBoer has some crucial games ahead to prove that his tested strategy works and that Vanderbilt was just a bad day.