Another Alabama win over Tennessee included a little more intrigue than most of the previous 14 straight wins. The Vols were in the game into the fourth quarter before the Crimson Tide pulled away for the 52-24 win.
There’s plenty of digest from this one so we went right to the DVR for the weekly Sunday rewatch. Let’s just get right to this with some next-day observations with context from the postgame.
-- For all the talk about Tennessee’s rebuilt, up-tempo offense but Alabama throttled it … briefly on the first drive. It takes successful plays to keep the momentum going and a 3-and-out opener didn’t allow for the ball to rolling too far downhill. That said, the Vols took just 9 seconds between the whistle ending the first-down run and the shotgun snap on second down.
-- Tennessee entered with the nation’s No. 6 rushing offense averaging 249.1 yards a game but a third-and-1 stuff on the opening drive was an indicator of where things were going. Phidarian Mathis was the first of many to throw Small for a 3-yard loss. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said they had issues blocking the interior all night.
-- There were a few egregious drops again by Alabama offensive players and Jamison Williams had a perfect pass hit him in the hands on the first offensive play. Bryce Young would then complete his next nine passes.
-- Tight ends had just one catch in the previous two games but Cameron Latu and Jahleel Billingsley caught passes that converted consecutive third downs on the opening drive. Latu had three catches for 55 yards after dropping a few passes in the previous two games.
-- Tennessee did a nice job spying the safety-valve receivers most of the night -- often Slade Bolden or a running back. Often they’d roll to the flat near the line of scrimmage by the Vols almost always had someone waiting in coverage, almost daring Young to make the throw with little chance of meaningful yardage.
-- The Vols gained 166 of its 282 passing yards on three plays. A 39-yarder to Cedric Tillman set up the first score and JaVonta Payton’s 57-yard touchdown made it 14-7, Tennessee in the first quarter. And a 70-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter was the third. Saban didn’t think most of those were traditional busted coverages. The Vols first touchdown on third-and-seven was a bust as former Alabama QB Greg McElroy explained on the ESPN broadcast.
-- I’ve seen some complains about former Alabama QB Greg McElroy on the ESPN broadcast but I think he does a good job explaining the strategy and drawing up plays on the screen. He offers smart analysis without talking down to the viewer, from my perspective. Not sure where the beef is from the viewer complaints I’ve seen.
-- Will Reichard was surprisingly short on the 54-yard field goal. He’d hit from 52 last year but this attempt didn’t even reach the back of the end zone. The Hoover grad later drilled one from 45 as he stands at 10-for-12 this season after a miss-free 2020.
-- The Bryant-Denny Stadium crowd was loud against Ole Miss but it had more of an impact on the Vols. There were five false start calls on the Tennessee offense, a few when they were backed up in the end zone with the Alabama student section.
-- Alabama made a big mistake roughing the punter late in the first quarter but that’s the price of going jailbreak on these situations. Twice this season they’ve led to blocks recovered for touchdowns but the cavalry was late and it cost the Tide big. UT needed two plays to take its first lead against Alabama since the 2015 game.
-- Didn’t see this by Vol JaVonta Payton mocked Tide’s touchdown celebration when he posed at the student section following his 57-yard touchdown.
-- Also, after that play, ESPN cameras on Saban showed him chewing out cornerback Josh Jobe after that long touchdown while safety Daniel Wright was the defender closest to Payton on the rout. McElroy pointed out safety Jordan Battle was likely playing too shallow, allowing Payton to have so much green grass after making the catch.
-- Tennessee clearly wanted to part of kicking off to Jameson Williams with all the pooch kicks. The Tide WR, however, added Alabama’s third lost fumble of the season to his dropped pass early in the game. The Tide is No. 26 nationally with losing just 3 fumbles. Penn State and Missouri are the only two without a lost fumble while South Carolina is last with 11.
-- Twitter punching bag Pete Golding was fired up after stuffing Tennessee on the drive after Williams’ fumble. It was the first of five straight 3-and-out possessions for the Vols after scoring consecutive touchdowns. The guests gained just one first down in the second and third quarters while netting 68 yards.
-- On the Bryce Young scrambles, he’s clearly not pulling the pin too quickly as he looks for receivers downfield. He didn’t cross the line of scrimmage on his first attempt until 10.1 seconds after receiving the snap. On his five-yard touchdown run, he was behind the line of scrimmage for 7.6 seconds.
-- The crowd was especially loud after stuffing the Vols on second and third downs needing just a yard but getting none on the drive after Alabama tied the game.
-- Former Alabama DB Brandon Turnage got flattened by Roydell Williams in the second quarter. There was an audible gasp in the stadium that ESPN’s mics also captured. Turnage remains close with a number of Alabama defensive players.
-- John Metchie had double-digit receptions for a second straight game with two screens at or behind the line of scrimmage. The first made me wonder if there was some kind of double pass in the playbook, or perhaps something Alabama’s putting on tape for future defenses to consider.
-- There were a few times it looked like Young was trying to force a few balls into coverage with the Vols dedicating so many defenders downfield. Saban said his QB was, in fact, frustrated at times but he regained his poise. That was the case after throwing into traffic incomplete the play before hitting Metchie for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:34 to go before halftime.
-- Alabama had a punt blocked for the first time since the 2018 Iron Bowl early in the third quarter. Vol coach Josh Heupel said they saw something in film study and they exploited it. Tennessee managed just a field goal after another 3-and-out on a drive starting at the Alabama 15.
-- Two delay of games after kickoffs (one negated by a timeout) was one of the strangest mental lapses I can remember for an Alabama offense. That just doesn’t happen and Saban was super mad on the sideline.
-- Young to Metchie down the middle converted a few third downs, the most important coming after the Vols cut it to 21-17. It went for 28 yards on third-and-12 on what would have been a third straight 3-and-out otherwise. It led to the 45-yard Reichard field goal though Billingsley had the other bad drop of the night immediately following the 28-yard connection. Hot and cold third quarter for the Tide offense. Jameson Williams caught a similar pass across the middle on third-and-seven for a 14-yard gain on drive ending in a touchdown.
-- There were some loud boos when Tennessee players went down with injuries but the loudest ones came in moments with no strategic reason to fake it. There was one between a touchdown and extra point, so there was no need to slow an offense that already scored and another on the final play of the third quarter. The fake injuries are certainly a thing but these were circumstances when boos rained down when there was no reason to fake it.
-- The boos came from those in orange after Young scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Vol coach Josh Heupel didn’t sound convinced by the explanation he got from the game officials as to why the touchdown stood. Heupel said they determined it was a touchdown “where our guy ended up with the football coming out of the pile.”
-- That play brought back memories of the last Tennessee game in Bryant-Denny Stadium when Vol QB Jarrett Guarantano fumbled into the same end zone before Trevon Diggs returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.
-- Saban, on the 70-yard touchdown Alabama allowed in the opening minute of the fourth quarter: “I mean, we weren’t lined up and ready to play on the 70-yard touchdown, the last one that they scored,” Saban said. “Josh [Jobe] was standing there, looking at the sidelines trying to get the signal, and they went fast and snapped the ball. The guy ran right by him before he ever even was lined up and was ready to play.”
-- Alabama began blowing things open after Williams caught a 65-yard pass after Tennessee cut it to 31-24. The deep ball hasn’t always been there this season but his favorite target came through on third-and-15 in what felt like a critical moment.
-- The air really came out of the Vol balloon after Jalyn Armour-Davis intercepted the 11th pass of the season for the Tide defense. Heupel said it was a simple miscommunication between QB and WR that led to the ball going straight to the Tide DB.
-- Heupel said they pretty much ran out of gas from that point. They were within one score of Alabama in the fourth quarter needing a stop on third-and-15 but that’s practically as close as they’d get to this upset.
Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.
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