No. 11 Alabama rallied from a 13-point deficit to crush Tennessee 34-20, avenging an instant-classic 2022 loss to the Volunteers and extending its home winning streak in the rivalry to 10 games. Tennessee led 13-0 early and 20-7 at halftime before the Crimson Tide exploded in the third quarter, thriving in all phases of the game as the Volunteers wilted before an elated crowd at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe bounced back from a rough second-half outing against Arkansas last week with a sterling third-quarter performance as he found Isaiah Bond for a 46-yard touchdown on Bama's second offensive play of the second half. The Crimson Tide's defense did its part from there by holding Tennessee to just 37 yards and a single first down in the third quarter as Alabama outscored its foe SEC East foe 17-0 in the frame.
Alabama kicker Will Reichard remained perfect on the season with makes of 42 and 50 yards in the second half. The Tide defense put an exclamation point on the victory with Jihaad Campbell's 24-yard scoop-and-score following Chris Braswell's strip sack of Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton with 7:26 remaining.
The Crimson Tide are now 7-1 (5-0 SEC) and still in solo possession of first place in the SEC West. They are off next week before hosting LSU. Tennessee fell to 5-2 (2-2 SEC) in advance of a trip to Kentucky next week that will require the Vols to eradicate their road woes. In a September loss at Florida and in Saturday's defeat, Tennessee led 7-0 early before getting blasted from there while struggling with penalties.
National validation
After a 34-24 home loss to Texas on Sept. 9 and a lackluster 17-3 win at South Florida the following week, Alabama fell to No. 13 in the AP Top 25, which was its lowest ranking since September 2015. While double-digit victories over Ole Miss and Mississippi State to close September helped right the ship, narrow wins against struggling division foes Texas A&M and Arkansas to begin October did little to inspire confidence.
Then came Saturday's second-half performance. So dominant were the Crimson Tide that it changed the outlook for what they can accomplish in the weeks ahead. If Saban's club can get past LSU, Kentucky, Chattanooga and Auburn, it will head to the SEC Championship Game with a shot at heading back to the College Football Playoff.
The version of Alabama we've seen for much of this season wouldn't stand a chance against Georgia, who will likely represent the SEC East in the conference title game. The version of Alabama that showed up in the second half against Arkansas last week or against Texas in Week 2 is bad enough to lose against Kentucky or LSU. But the version of Alabama we saw in the second half against Tennessee can beat anyone, including Georgia.
Alabama, the ultimate opportunist
Tennessee did its part in helping Alabama dominate the second half and the Crimson Tide capitalized any time the Vols made a major mistake. That opportunism allowed Alabama to run away with the game over the last 30 minutes.
The first hallmark moment came rather early in the third quarter; Tennessee's first offensive possession, in fact. Alabama kicked off after scoring its first touchdown of the second half and it appeared as if Tennessee had a decent return. However, officials ruled that one of Tennessee's returners -- not the one that touched the ball -- called for a fair catch. As a result, the ball was spotted at Tennessee's 4-yard line. Tennessee subsequently went three-and-out and gave Alabama favorable field position to later kick a field goal.
On its very next offensive drive, Tennessee went for it on fourth-and-1 from its own 47-yard line and failed to convert. Five plays later, Alabama running back Jase McClellan ran the ball in from 5 yards out to give the Crimson Tide a 24-20 advantage -- their first lead of the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Alabama faced third-and-9 from Tennessee's 36-yard line. Milroe's pass attempt sailed above the wide receiver's head, but the Vols were called for a defensive holding that gave Alabama an automatic first down.
A few plays later, the Crimson Tide kicked a field goal to go up by seven. A few plays after that came the all-important defensive touchdown which put the game away. With every Tennessee blunder in the second half, Alabama capitalized.
Struggling to run
Tennessee entered ranked No. 6 nationally in yards rushing per game at 231.3. They had just run for 232 yards against a quality Texas A&M defense, and the three-man running back room of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson seemed poised for another big game against the Crimson Tide. However, the Vols' leading rusher ended up being Milton, who finished with 59 yards on the ground even after losing 33 yards on three sacks.
The Volunteers struggled all game to open consistent holes in the traditional run game as the running back trio totaled just 72 yards on 23 carries with a long of 12 yards coming from Sampson. The running struggles took Tennessee out of rhythm offensively and forced Milton into 41 pass attempts, which turned out to be a winning formula for an Alabama defense that surrendered its longest play of the day on the game's opening series.
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