Alabama vs. Tennessee: Game Grades, Analysis for Crimson Tide vs. Volunteers
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The gap has never seemed so wide.
This was supposed to be the season the Tennessee Volunteers closed in on heated, hated rival Alabama.
Instead, the Crimson Tide pieced together their most thorough domination over an injury-depleted and overwhelmed Volunteers team in more than a century, walloping UT 49-10 at Neyland Stadium in convincing fashion worthy of a top-ranked team.
Not even during the Derek Dooley era was a loss to 'Bama this lopsided. There wasn't any second-half magic this week for Tennessee. Alabama outscored the Vols 28-3 after the break.
"We were just trying to prove people wrong," UA linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said. "A team like that that’s a second-half team, I mean, we're a four-quarter team. Our motto is we're going to play 60 minutes hard, and we came out and did that today."
Alabama rolled up 594 yards of total offense—the most it has ever amassed against UT. The Tide also had 438 rushing yards and held the Vols to just 163 total yards.
Let's take a look at the game grades.
Tennessee: Offense
1 of 6
Alabama's defensive front seven is superb no matter who it plays against, but with all the injuries Tennessee was forced to battle through on the offensive front, it got ugly.
At one point, the Vols had four backup linemen in the game: Redshirt freshmen Venzell Boulware and Drew Richmond, sophomore Jack Jones and true freshman Marcus Tatum, who was forced to burn his redshirt Saturday afternoon.
Because of that, it's hard to dole out a failing grade. But Tennessee could do nothing offensively. It did have just one turnover, which was an improvement from much of the season, but Ronnie Harrison's pick-six was costly.
With Alabama crashing the line on numerous plays, quarterback Joshua Dobbs had no room to operate. A Vols offense that had been so dynamic for much of the season sputtered.
"It's a challenge," Dobbs said.
At halftime, UT had 35 plays but just 41 yards. The only time the Vols scored a touchdown, they had an 11-yard field following a Jalen Hurts fumble forced by Derek Barnett.
It was a long day, and 163 total yards aren't going to win any beauty contests. Unfortunately for the Vols, it's not going to win a football game, either.
"Their defensive front has impacted every game they've been in, and they do a great job of also being able to play man coverage," UT coach Butch Jones said. "They're the No. 1 team in the country, and rightfully so. They just line up, and a lot of times, even on special teams with their schemes, they say they're better than you, and football is a game of one-on-one matchups."
The Vols didn't win any of those in the trenches, and that's why the offense faltered.
Grade: D
Alabama: Offense
2 of 6
Alabama had two turnovers and still get sterling marks because the Crimson Tide was just so dominant running the football.
When you finish with this much yardage in one of the most storied rivalries in all of college football, that's the kind of day that goes down in history books. Saturday will.
As much as UT fans hate 'Bama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, who coached in Knoxville one season before bolting for Southern Cal, they can't deny his play-calling acumen. He again proved to be a maestro against the Vols. It also doesn't hurt to have the best talent in the country, either.
The final numbers were gaudy: 594 yards of total offense, 438 rushing yards, 28 first downs, and quarterback Jalen Hurts had a career-high three rushing touchdowns and gashed Tennessee. He was the talk of both locker rooms after the game.
"He's a dynamic quarterback," UT defensive back Rashaan Gaulden said. "His speed, being able to run and being able to pass, that's the hardest quarterback to face is a dual-threat quarterback, in my opinion, and he exploited us today, being able to get around the edge and delivering on the long balls when they needed it."
Added UA tight end O.J. Howard: "We know he can do that. You see what happened tonight when we gave him opportunities."
Hurts dominated, and so did the running backs. Bo Scarbrough ripped off an impressive 85-yard touchdown run and finished with 109 yards. Damien Harris added 94 yards on 14 carries.
Tennessee wasn't horrible on defense, but Alabama just kept coming.
Grade: A
Tennessee: Defense
3 of 6
The words coming out of the mouths of Tennessee players and coaches after the game said all that needed to be said about the defensive performance.
Unacceptable.
That many yards on home turf against a rival in a key game is tough to stomach. Hurts was the main culprit. His feet were able to open up so much for Alabama's offense, and the Crimson Tide piled on once it got ahead, much like they have for much of the season.
Last week after a double-overtime loss to Texas A&M, the Vols weren't demoralized. The feeling was different Saturday.
"Coach Jones said that if you’re not feeling it right now, there’s something wrong with you," UT safety Todd Kelly Jr. said. "I totally agree with that because this loss hurts really bad, but at the same time it's also going to teach us a lot about what we did wrong and improve our team in general when we watch film."
There will be plenty of lessons. The Vols struggled without Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Cortez McDowell and Darrin Kirkland Jr. on the second level. They didn't win many battles on the defensive front, either, as interior linemen continued to get hurt and be replaced.
Tennessee has given up too many big plays this season, and against the Tide, it was no different. But Alabama pretty much did what it wanted to in short-yardage, too. It was not the kind of game from which to take many superlatives.
But defensive end Derek Barnett said there's a reason not to burn this film.
"We've got a 24-hour rule," he said, "but we've got a bye week, so we'll probably spend a little extra time on this film and see what we need to do, because we could see them again, possibly."
They'll have to play much better than this to have a chance if that happens.
Grade: D
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Alabama: Defense
4 of 6
Alabama did what no other team has been able to do this season: Bottle up Dobbs and keep the Vols from going off in the second half.
Because of that, the Tide turned a two-touchdown halftime advantage into a blowout.
They set the tone in the first quarter, sacking Dobbs three times, crashing the edges with Tim Williams and Jonathan Allen, two players who'll likely be top-10 picks in next year's draft. They didn't let up from there. The team speed was evident, and UT found very few running lanes.
Alabama was able to smother the Vols up front, and it also had success downfield, taking away the deep ball. Tennessee couldn't find anybody beyond the line of scrimmage, and on 3rd-and-long situations, Dobbs far too often had to check down and complete passes far short of the sticks.
"We thought we had angles. We thought we had some good calls," Jones said. "Again, football comes down to one-on-one matchups. Xs and Os don't breathe. It just comes down to execution. It's not one person’s fault; it’s not anyone’s fault."
Actually, it's Alabama's.
The only team that has come close to exposing the Tide this year is Ole Miss, and Chad Kelly has proved to be the league's top quarterback. Dobbs maybe entered Saturday second, but Hurts overtook him chiefly because he didn't have to play against the Tide defense.
Anybody who has to is in for a long afternoon.
They're fast, they're athletic, they're dynamic and they're deep. Because of that side of the ball, Alabama is in a different league than the Vols.
"I think this is one of the most complete games we've played as a team," Tide defensive back Eddie Jackson said. "We still had two turnovers on offense and have some things we need to work on, but it was a good game. Everyone came in and executed and played four quarters of football."
Grade: A+
Tennessee: Coaching
5 of 6
At this point of the gauntlet and just in time for a much-needed bye week, the Vols are ridiculously hamstrung injury-wise. There's no denying that fact.
But when you are, you've still got to play a game and scheme around the things you can do. Jones didn't do that on Saturday.
As well as he's coached in the second halves during the past three games of this rough stretch against Florida, Georgia and Texas A&M, he struggled mightily against Alabama. It was the biggest stage of his career, and the Vols coaching staff had no answers.
Against Alabama's relentless rush, the Vols waned. Too many times, UT ran Jalen Hurd into the mass of crimson humanity up front, putting it in unenviable second- and third-down situations with long yardage to gain.
The Vols rarely ran plays to the sticks and took few chances. It was an inexplicable offensive game plan. Perhaps most baffling was Dobbs not running the ball hardly at all. That's tough to understand when his running ability opens so much in UT's offense.
A lot of that had to do with Alabama's defensive dominance—and Jones admitted it changed up the game plan—but you've got to try, don't you? The Tide did with Hurts what the Vols should have tried to do with Dobbs.
“It's unacceptable," Jones said of the performance. "It starts with us as coaches. We're one family. You win as a team, you lose as a team. That's how it goes. It starts with me, it starts with our coaches, it starts with everyone."
Injuries are an excuse Jones didn't use, and he could have. So, kudos to him for owning up to the off day. But in year four of a program, you've got to be deep enough and good enough to not lay the egg the Vols did on Saturday.
Grade: F
Alabama: Coaching
6 of 6
Nick Saban has the program, he's got the resources, he's got the talent and he's got the coaches.
The Tide proved they're the best around on Saturday, coaching circles around Tennessee at Neyland Stadium.
Kiffin hasn't been very successful as a head coach, but he's enjoying a dynamite run as Alabama's offensive coordinator, and he called another sterling game against the Vols.
When Kirby Smart left UA to be Georgia's head coach, Saban picked up old assistant Jeremy Pruitt, who has helped the Tide sustain their championship-caliber defense.
Alabama doesn't have to be flashy. The Tide just run it down your throats and dominate both lines of scrimmage. But there is plenty of well-placed pizzazz that spices things up, too. It seems every play-action pass and every jailbreak blitz is perfectly timed.
A lot of that is having the nation's most elite athletes, sure, but it's also preparation, teaching and coaching.
The Tide were unfazed by Saturday's stage on the road against the ninth-ranked Vols. If anything, they elevated their play. The final score was 49-10, but Saban called off the dogs in the fourth quarter, or it could have been worse.
It should have been worse.
This Alabama team isn't as good as last year's team yet, but it has the potential to be, and that's scary because its so young. This was supposed to be the Vols' year to close the gulf and move closer to the top of the SEC. But the difference between Alabama and everybody else right now isn't really fair.
Say what you want about Saban, but you have to give him his due as the architect of the country's top program.
Grade: A+
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
