Will Vanderbilt bounce back or suffer 'hangover' from Alabama loss?

Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason emphasized the experience of his team when it beat then-No. 18 Kansas State for the Commodores’ biggest win this season.

Now he hopes that maturity can help Vanderbilt recover from its biggest loss in 23 years.

“I’d like to think so,” Mason said after a 59-0 loss to No. 1 Alabama on Saturday. “… We’ll see what Tuesday and Wednesday look like in terms of whether or not this team wakes up with a hangover. We’ve got to get this right.”

More:Vanderbilt football can't let blowout loss to Alabama be anchor that ruins season

Vanderbilt has 39 upperclassmen, easily the most experienced team in Mason’s four-year tenure. After the loss, Mason and players talked about turning the page quickly rather than dwelling on the ugliness of the 59-point loss, the fifth-largest losing margin in program history.

“We need to send the message so that everybody knows it was only one game. It doesn’t define our season,” said Ryan White, a senior safety and team captain. “So we have to bounce back and get back to work.

“Like Coach always talks about, we are a junior-senior team. We’ve just got to gather the team collectively and everybody get back to work.”

Where did it go wrong?

Senior wide receiver Trent Sherfield said a “sloppy” practice Tuesday started the Alabama game week on the wrong foot. “And I think it just carried on to (Saturday’s loss),” he added.

Mason said he thought the Commodores were “prepared, but we just didn’t make anything happen. I put that on me.”

More:How does Vanderbilt follow big loss to Alabama? A trip to The Swamp

Either way, Vanderbilt (3-1, 0-1 SEC) will be back on the practice field Tuesday to prepare for Saturday’s game (11 a.m., ESPN) at No. 20 Florida (2-1, 2-0).

“It’s all about the response. It’s only one game,” Mason said. “Right now, we’re sitting at 3-1 and we have to find ourselves getting to four (wins).”

How can Commodores rebound?

It might be only one loss. But the severity of the defeat tainted this Vanderbilt team’s stature. The Commodores went from sitting just outside the Top 25 to not receiving a single vote in either poll this week.

But Mason said his ego wasn’t bruised from the loss to Alabama.

“I don’t get consumed with the whole pride deal,” Mason said. “You can get consumed with pride, and it can take you to a dark place.

“… I am disappointed, but I am not going to fall into the abyss on one game.”

More:Vanderbilt football should be humiliated, but not deterred over 59-0 loss to Alabama

Regardless of national rankings, Vanderbilt could still contend in the SEC East race. But it probably must knock off Florida for a chance to win the division.

Florida has a 2-0 SEC record, and Georgia sits at 1-0. Vanderbilt plays both in back-to-back weeks. All other East Division teams have at least one conference loss.

“We can’t let one (loss) become two,” Mason said. “So we’ll move on to Florida.”

Reach Adam Sparks at asparks@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.

NEXT GAME

VANDERBILT (3-1, 0-1 SEC) VS. NO. 20 FLORIDA (2-1, 2-0 SEC)

When: 11 a.m. Saturday

TV/Radio: ESPN/1510 AM, 98.3 FM