Alabama tailback Ahmaad Galloway drives up the field for a 79-yard touchdown against Vanderbilt.(AP)

The offensive heroes were three players who started a season-opening loss to UCLA on the bench.

Ahmaad Galloway, making his first career start, rushed 13 times for 172 yards and a 79-yard first-quarter score. His backup, Brandon Miree, scored on a tackle-breaking 41-yard scamper in the fourth.

Backup quarterback Tyler Watts led the fourth-quarter drives and scored on a 9-yard run.

"Tyler just came in and gave us a tremendous lift," said DuBose, adding that Watts would start against Southern Miss next week.

The Crimson Tide (1-1) sputtered badly on offense before all but abandoning the passing game in the final quarter. The defense forced a pair of late safeties against Vanderbilt (0-2) and also had a goal-line stand in the third quarter.

"The heart was taken out of our team in the fourth quarter," Vandy coach Woody Widenhofer said. "I give Alabama a lot of credit in a game that came down to the wire and should have been a lot closer than it was.

"This team is going to come together and be a heck of a football team."

The Tide racked up 292 yards on the ground, including 136 in the fourth. Galloway had a 79-yard TD run in the first quarter.

Alabama's offense gave the fans little else to cheer about until the fourth quarter. The Tide led just 10-7 before Watts, who replaced a struggling Andrew Zow at quarterback in the third quarter, scored on a 9-yard keeper with 10:39 left.

"We just kept pounding at them, and things started to work out in the second half," Watts said.

Vandy answered with John Markham's field goal before Miree sealed it. He burst up the middle for a 41-yard TD run, shaking off a tackle attempt by cornerback Aaron McWhorter.

Miree finished with 70 yards on nine carries.

Vanderbilt's Greg Zolman was then called for intentional grounding in his end zone for a safety after a short kick return pinned the Commodores deep.

Alabama punter Lane Bearden booted a 66-yarder to the Vandy 1. Cornelius Wortham wrapped up Jared McGrath for another safety on the next play.

Galloway, whose score came on Alabama's second play, accounted for 149 of Alabama's 200 total yards through three quarters. Last week's starter, Shaun Bohanon, didn't play.

With 57 total passing yards, it wasn't exactly the kind of wide-open offense the Tide coaches had been touting coming into the season. Receiver and return man Freddie Milons, who had 189 all-purpose yards against UCLA, rushed twice for 9 yards and gained a yard on his only reception.

Zow, who also struggled in a season-opening loss to UCLA, was just 3-of-9 for 20 yards. He fumbled four first-half snaps, though the Tide didn't lose any of them, and was booed by the fans.

Watts, running mostly an option attack, was 3-of-6 for 37 yards. He also rushed twice for first downs in the fourth, but doesn't expect the Tide to rely on the option as much in the future.

"That's not us. We're not a Nebraska," Watts said. "We're not going to run the triple option, but that's what the defense was giving us, and that's what we took."

Galloway was named the starter on Monday after the Tide tailbacks managed just 45 yards and lost two fumbles against UCLA.

He quickly made it clear it was the right decision, giving Alabama the lead with his 79-yard TD run on the Tide's second play. The first play was more indicative of how the half went, though, with Zow having to fall on a botched snap.

Excluding Galloway's 79-yarder, Alabama gained only 47 yards on 22 first-half plays but led 10-7.

Zolman was 12-of-26 for 172 yards. Dan Stricker caught five passes for 121 yards.

"The game comes down to making plays," tailback Rodney Williams said. "They made more plays than we did. Because they made more plays, more things went in their favor."