Tennessee Starting Safety Jaylen McCollough Arrested on Felony Assault Charge

One of the Tennessee Volunteers' starting defenders was arrested Sunday.

Adam Sparks of the Knoxville News Sentinel reported safety Jaylen McCollough has been charged with aggravated felony assault, citing a Knox County Sheriff's Office arrest warrant.

The arrest comes ahead of the highly anticipated showdown between the undefeated Volunteers and the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide on Saturday.

According to Sparks, a man with a bloody mouth and missing teeth told police he was drinking with friends at an apartment complex and accidentally went to the wrong building and entered an unlocked apartment after he went to get something from his car.

While the man said he quickly apologized and left when he realized his mistake, a man pursued him out of the apartment. That is when the man who went into the wrong apartment said his pursuer "didn't have to be a (expletive) about it," and the pursuer responded by punching him in the face.

The man said he fell down the stairs and lost consciousness, and police later found blood on that stairwell.

McCollough, who Sparks noted is the third Tennessee player to be arrested in two months, had a bloody bandage on his hand when he spoke to police.

This is McCollough's fourth season with the Volunteers, and he has appeared in all five games this campaign.

Tennessee has been one of the biggest surprises of the college football season to this point and is No. 6 in the Associated Press Top 25 after wins over Ball State, Pittsburgh, Akron, Florida and LSU.

It has an opportunity to move up those rankings if it can hand the Crimson Tide their first loss of the campaign.