Bama Rolls Vols in Third Saturday in October Clash, 37-20
Bryant Denny was clouded in cigar smoke after a convincing victory over Tennessee in the annual Third Saturday in October showdown.
By: Dave in Tuscaloosa
The Third Saturday in October never fails to deliver, and for those donning Crimson and White, the delivery could not have been sweeter. Playing its fourth ranked SEC opponent in as many weeks, the 6th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide took care of business again, this time against 11th ranked Tennessee 37-20 on Saturday evening in Tuscaloosa. With the win, Alabama became the first team in conference history to reel off four wins against ranked opponents in consecutive weeks. Needless to say, Bama is improving weekly and is on a roll. With a home win over Vanderbilt, coupled with road wins at Georgia and Missouri, the Tide’s victory over the Vols serves as another step towards righting the wrong of 2024’s 9-4 campaign. Just a month and a half ago, Bama was reeling from an opening day loss to Florida State, and the vultures were circling second year coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff. However, the impending death of DeBoer and company did not happen, and the nation is clearly seeing why the heir to Saban’s dynasty has what it takes to keep the Tide rolling towards championships.
The Third Saturday in October never fails to deliver, and for those donning Crimson and White, the delivery could not have been sweeter. Playing its fourth ranked SEC opponent in as many weeks, the 6th ranked Alabama Crimson Tide took care of business again, this time against 11th ranked Tennessee 37-20 on Saturday evening in Tuscaloosa. With the win, Alabama became the first team in conference history to reel off four wins against ranked opponents in consecutive weeks. Needless to say, Bama is improving weekly and is on a roll. With a home win over Vanderbilt, coupled with road wins at Georgia and Missouri, the Tide’s victory over the Vols serves as another step towards righting the wrong of 2024’s 9-4 campaign. Just a month and a half ago, Bama was reeling from an opening day loss to Florida State, and the vultures were circling second year coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff. However, the impending death of DeBoer and company did not happen, and the nation is clearly seeing why the heir to Saban’s dynasty has what it takes to keep the Tide rolling towards championships.
The story of the day was the Alabama defense. Every time the Vols looked like they were going to turn the tide of the game, the defense stepped up and made plays. Yes, the defense gave up 142 yards on the ground, with sophomore Desean Bishop leading the Vols with 123 yards and two scores, and yes, one of those scores came on a nifty 44-yard scamper at the start of the third quarter. However, Tennessee converted on just two of five trips into the red zone. The play of the game occurred on one of those trips. On the last play of the first half, Tennessee was at the Tide 2-yard line and was poised to cut into a 16-7 Alabama lead. Aguilar tossed a pass that was slightly behind a Tennessee receiver at the cusp of the endzone, and Tide sophomore snagged the pass and as time ran out in the second quarter, raced 99 yards the other way for a pick-six that put Bama up 23-7 at half. Furthermore, Bama has been waiting for someone in the front seven to jumpstart a consistent pass rush. Enter sophomore Yhonzae Pierre, who was credited for 6 hurries and recorded three sacks on the evening.
After last week’s slow start against Missouri, DeBoer preached the importance of a fast start against the Vols, and Bama delivered. After holding Tennessee to a three-and-out on their opening drive, Simpson methodically marched the Tide 91 yards in 11 plays, completing passes to five different receivers, with the last one going to Isaiah Horton from two yards out to give the Tide a 7-0 lead. After an exchange of punts, Tennessee got on the board at the 9:46 mark of the second quarter with a two-yard pass of their own, an Aguilar to Brayon Staley pass and catch that evened the score at 7. After a rare Bama three-and-out, the Vols took over at their own 18-yard line. After a penalty moved Tennessee back to its own 9-yard line, Bama’s front seven sent Aguilar back into his endzone where Pierre forced the Tennessee quarterback into a desperation pass while he was going down that was called intentional grounding and gave the Tide a safety and a 9-7 lead. Bama received the ensuing kickoff and made quick work of the Vol defense, marching 69 yards in seven plays that culminated in a one-yard Jam Miller run to stretch the Tide lead to 16-7 with 4:05 left in the half. On the drive, Simpson was particularly sharp, connecting on passes of 28, 25, and 14 yards. The Vols responded by using the remainder of the half to march to the Tide 2-yard line before Brown’s pick-six ended the half with Bama leading 23-7.
Alabama received the second half kickoff and the Vols recorded their second three-and-out of the evening that forced a Tide punt. Starting at their own 39, Tennessee needed just four plays and after Bishop’s 44-yard touchdown run, the Vols cut the lead to 23-13 (they failed on a 2-point conversion attempt) and clearly had the momentum. At the 7:42 mark, Simpson fumbled at the Tennessee 47 and it looked like the Vols were ready to take control of the game. However, the Tide defense was up to the challenge and after advancing to the Tide 44, the Vols were forced to punt and pinned Alabama back on its own 1-yard line. Thus commenced the drive of the game, a 99-yard beauty in 9 plays that ended with an 11-yard Simpson to Rico Scott touchdown toss to give Bama its biggest lead of the game, 30-13 with :25 left to play in the third quarter. The Vols would not go away, and they took the ensuing kickoff 75 yards in 13 plays for a score. Bishop scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from a yard out to cut the lead to 30-20 with 10:51 remaining in the contest. The key play of the drive was a 12-yard completion on 4th and 4 from their own 31. With momentum teetering between squads, the Tide showed why its championship material as Simpson and the offense took the kickoff and went 75 yards in 10 plays to put the game out of reach. When Ty Simpson ran for 3 yards on a 4th and 2 from the Vol 11-yard line and Daniel Hill scored from 4 yards out, Bama forged ahead 37-20 with 5:49 left in the game. Sensing the victory, the Braynt-Denney faithful lit up victory cigars and started the celebration early. The Vols would march two more times deep into Bama territory but failed both times inside the 20 and the Tide victory was sealed.
The SEC race has tightened with eight teams still in the mix for Atlanta. Entering South Carolina week, Alabama stands at 6-1 overall and a perfect 4-0 in the conference. Texas A&M is the other unbeaten, and the Aggies have looked very impressive. Right behind the Tide and the Aggies are a host of one loss teams. Georgia, Ole Miss, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt have tasted defeat in the conference just once and all are very much in the hunt for Atlanta and the College Football Playoff. There’s plenty of ball to still be played, yet it is safe to say at this juncture, The Crimson Tide stand in prime position for a championship run.
