Nashville, TENN--Vanderbilt feels as if it's close.

It also knows that if it doesn't clean up its operation and little things then it likely won't get over the hump.

Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea's theory on that was proven in its 30-27 loss against Missouri in which it had a top 10 team on the ropes and looked to have a similar talent level as it, but was penalized eight times for 93 yards.

Lea took frustration in that as a result of its contrast to his past team's identities.

“We're gonna harp on that in our process," Lea said of penalties. "It's frustrating because I think we've been a disciplined team with respect to penalities in the past. Its always something that we've taken pride in. We've spent a lot of time through the bye week talking about the need to clean up penalties."

That message has hit home with veteran linebacker Langston Patterson, who has continued to alert his teammates of it.

"It's just discipline," Patterson said. "Most of them are just stupid penalties that we get sometimes, PI and stuff like that happens, but we just can't let unnecessary penalties get the best of us."

Vanderbilt's penalty issues took opportunity from it all throughout its day in Columbia and also gave it less margin for error than it needed to leave with a win.

The margin for error seems to be bigger with Lea's group that Eli Drinkwitz referred to as his best yet, but Lea's team still has room to grow.

"We gotta get over that little edge and start punching some wins here," Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia said. "Three and outs are killing us and penalties are killing us right now so we gotta clean that up."

Pavia and Vanderbilt's offense accounted for six three and outs in its loss against Missouri, those were often sparked by failure to move the ball early in the down.

“We get behind the chains too much," Pavia said. "We’ve put the defense out there too fast... Putting the defense out there too early allows them to score points. The most important thing is not getting behind the chains."

Vanderbilt knows that to knock off No. 1 Alabama, which has kept it out of the end zone in every game since 2007, it will have to play a near perfect game. No little thing will go unmagnified.

Lea and his team know that, but are ready for the measuring stick that Saturday will provide.

"Anytime you welcome a No. 1 ranked team into your home stadium is a challenge," Lea said. "With a great challenge comes a great opportunity and a chance for us to measure ourselves against the best in the league."