Former Alabama coach Nick Saban wasn’t in Nashville to see Vanderbilt upset Alabama football, but his presence was felt.

Immediately after the 40-35 score went final, the Commodores played a clip of Saban on “The Pat McAfee Show” from an old episode.

“The only place you play in the SEC that’s not hard to play in Vanderbilt,” Saban said in the clip. “You have more fans than they have. That’s no disrespect to them. It’s the truth.”

Saban joined “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday for an appearance from Eugene, Oregon and was made aware of the clip of him being shown in Nashville. He said he didn’t know that had happened.

“But if you look at the stadium, half the people were Alabama fans,” Saban said Friday.

It may have been even more than that. The crowd certainly didn’t feel like an away crowd for the Crimson Tide.

Saban didn’t watch the game until he got home because it ended about the same time as his return to Tuscaloosa. He did watch it on tape, though.

“That was really hard,” Saban said.

Vanderbilt beat Alabama for the first time since 1984. Saban never lost to the Commodores during his 17 seasons with the Crimson Tide, winning four matchups against Vanderbilt.

Next, No. 7 Alabama faces South Carolina on Saturday (11 a.m., ABC) at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.