Nashville, TENN--It's not often you see Alabama look like that.

That's a program that's known for swarming, causing disruption and showing off its group of future NFL players. It's not known for being off balance or struggling for answers like that.

Vanderbilt offensive coordinator Tim Beck made that the reality on Saturday, though.

Beck doesn't have the talent that Alabama's offense does, but throughout five games he's proven that he knows how to use it.

“The things that we did on offense [against Alabama], I give credit to coach Beck," Vanderbilt running back Sedrick Alexander said. "He’s been wonderful calling the plays the right way. I put all my trust in him, whatever he does."

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea did that this offseason as he allowed Beck complete autonomy of an offense that used to include some input from Lea.

That offense didn't inspire confidence for much of the spring and the fall, but finally came together when Beck needed it to most.

Beck now has a pulse for his group that few others around the country do. He often seems to know exactly what buttons to push.

“I’ve been so impressed with his in-game feel and instinct," Lea said of Beck. "His ability to call it with confidence allows our kids to play with confidence."

Vanderbilt has taken more confidence in the run game than it has in the passing game thus far and has ran it more than it's thrown it in every game thus far, it's also ran it over 70% of the time in three of its five games.

Most of Vanderbilt's SEC counterparts can't say the same. That's something that Beck takes pride in.

"We dont want to be like everybody else," Beck says. "We don’t want to run the same exact plays as everybody else, we feel like we have to be a little bit different. To turn things around here I think it’s extremely important to be different."

Vanderbilt is certainly different. Its offense has thrived off of option plays, tight end shovel passes and ballsy late-down calls.

The aspect of uniqueness has narrowed the gap for Vanderbilt's offense.

"When we play these other opponents they ain’t never seen nothing like it even though they see it on film," Alexander said.

That's been the identity that Vanderbilt has embraced. It wants to be different, but it also wants to be sound and know what it does in and out.

In that regard it aims to follow its leader.

"We do a lot formationally and we do a lot in terms of personnel groupings, it’s a lot but it never feels rushed," Lea said. "It never feels like [Beck is] chasing the play down.

"I think both the play design and the play calling have both been exceptional."