Alabama's freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts drops back to pass as Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett keeps an eye on him. Hurts rushed for 132 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 143 yards in the Crimson Tide's 49-10 dismantling of the Vols on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
photo by Dennis Norwood
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee once again fell behind, but the Vols couldn’t even sniff at a comeback against mighty Alabama before 102,455 fans at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
Top-ranked Alabama showed its dominance by crushing outmanned ninth-ranked Tennessee 49-10, extending the Crimson Tide’s winning streak in the storied rivalry to 10 straight games.
It’s the second-biggest Alabama win over Tennessee in history of the storied series. The Crimson Tide thumped the Vols 51-0 in 1906. Also, the 39-point margin of victory is the largest for Alabama in a regular season game against a top 10 team from the Associated Press Top 25 opponent in history.
“I don’t think (the loss) impacts our confidence,” Vol defensive back Todd Kelly Jr. said, “but I think we need to question what we did out there on the field because that’s not acceptable.
“Giving up 594 yards, 438 rushing yards, that’s uncalled for.”
Alabama (6-0, 4-0), which has claimed 18 straight victories (longest streak in the country) gashed the Vols’ defense from every angle on the field and its defense produced and special teams each produced a touchdown, giving the Tide 11 non-offensive touchdowns this season.
Defensive back Ronnie Harrison intercepted a Joshua Dobbs pass and returned it 58 yards for the Tide’s second touchdown. Return specialist Eddie Jackson zipped 79 yards on a punt return for another TD.
“I was really proud of our players. We said we wanted a complete game and they certainly did that,” said Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is 10-0 against the Vols.
Alabama punished Tennessee’s injury-depleted defense –15 of the unit’s players were not dressed for the game due to injuries, including three key starters: Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Cameron Sutton and Darrin Kirkland Jr. – the entire game and had no trouble piling up massive chunks of yardage.
“What can I say,” Vols coach Butch Jones said. “The next man goes in. These kids are warriors; I believe in them. They are going to be all right.”
Alabama ran 76 plays and had 594 yards of offense, including a whopping 438 – that’s 9.8 yards per carry – on the ground where freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts led the way with 123 yards and three touchdowns on runs of 45, 1 and 2 yards.
Hurts, a true freshman, also completed 16 of 26 passes for 143 yards.
“He made some good throws today,” Saban said. “He missed some throws. He missed some reads. He turned the ball over twice in the first half. One game them a score, one took a score off the board for us right before the half, but he’s getting better every week.
“Obviously, his ability to run is something that gives defenses a lot of problems.”
Conversely, Joshua Dobbs, a senior, passed for 92 yards and was minus-31 yards on the ground. He was sacked three times and threw the pick-six.
Jalen Hurd was Tennessee’s leading with a meager 28 yards on 13 carries.
Junior Alvin Kamara, who had more than 300 all-purpose yards in a two-overtime loss at Texas A&M last week, gained 35 against the Tide.
They’re that good. Everybody in the Southeastern Conference – if not the nation – could be playing for second place.
“They kept hurting us on the QB run,” said Vols defensive end Derek Barnett, who had an interception, a forced fumble, two tackles for loss and a sack in another sterling performance. “That’s the play that was getting us. He’s a dynamic quarterback and the hardest quarterback to face is a dual-threat quarterback in my opinion.”
On the ensuing play after Tennessee’s Aaron Medley kicked a 37-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 28-10, Hurts hit Calvin Ridley with a 31-yard strike to the Vols’ 44.
Eight plays later, Hurts found paydirt from the 1 yards and Alabama’s advantage, if not crystal clear before, increased to 35-10. On the play prior to the TD, Hurts connected with tight end O.J. Howard on a 23-yard pass to set up the 1-yard score.
At that point, Hurts, a true freshman, had rushed for 132 yards on 12 carries – an 11-yard average – and completed 15 of 25 passes for 142 yards.
“We know he can do that,” Alabama tight end O.J. Howard said. “We just have to block to give him the opportunity to make plays. You see what happened tonight when we gave him opportunities.”
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Jackson stretched the Tide’s lead to 42-10 with his long punt return with 14:42 left
Tennessee punter Aaron Medley had a terrific start, booming punts of 58 and 60 yards in the first quarter, but finished with a 48.3 average on 10 kicks.
Even in that the punting category, Alabama’s Cooper Batemen had the upper hand with a 50-yard average on four kicks, including a long of 62.
Offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin, the one-year wonder at Tennessee as head coach, still was hungry to add to the Tide’s lead.
Sophomore Bo Scarbrough provided the final TD on a superlative 85-yard run that saw him outrun three defenders for the final 40 yards down the far sideline. Scarbrough rushed for 109 yards and Damien Harris had 94, just 6 yards from being a third Tide back with 100 yards in the game.
On its final drive of the game, Alabama was still trying to reach the end zone. Reserve quarterback Cooper Bateman marched the Tide deep into Tennessee territory, mainly on the running of B.J. Emmons, but failed to pick up a first down on a fourth-and-nine situation at Tennessee’s 11 with 54 seconds left.
At halftime, Alabama had 309 yards of offense, including 245 rushing. Hurts gained 165 yards, 92 rushing and 64 passing and the Tide had a 21-7 advantage.
Tennessee’s score was set up when Barnett sacked Hurts, causing a fumble. Quay Picou recovered at Alabama’s 11. Alvin Kamara scored on a 7-yard run, capping a two-play drive in 30 seconds.
ArDarius Stewart triggered Alabama’s scoring with a 29-yard to put a golden finish on a 91-yard, eight play drive.
Alabama’s lead went to 14-0 came on Harrison’s interception return and Hurts’ 45-yard TD gallop extended the lead to 21-7 at the break.
Considering Tennessee’s knack for making remarkable comebacks from double-digit deficits, was Alabama’s defense a bit jittery with a 14-point lead?
“We were trying to prove people wrong,” Tide linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton said. “A team like (Tennessee) is a second-half team, I mean; we’re a four-quarter team. Our motto is we’re going to play sixty minutes, and we did that.”
Tennessee is off next week and returns to action on October 29 at South Carolina.
“Obviously, the grind has affected us injury wise,” Dobbs said. “Each of these last four games (Florida, Georgia, Texas A&M and Alabama) are reasons you come to Tennessee. We have to stay together, we can’t let this game divide us, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Said Jones, “Our kids are fighting, scratching and clawing. I told them I love them more today than yesterday. We’ll get better. We have to keep things in perspective. Alabama is a very talented football team, and we still have a lot to play for.”
Alabama faces unbeaten Texas A&M next Saturday in Tuscaloosa, a game that will be televised by CBS.
SCORING
Alabama 14 7 14 0 – 49
Tennessee 0 7 3 0 – 10
First Quarter
UA – ArDarius Stewart 29 run (Adam Griffith kick), 3:29
UA – Ronnie Harrison 58 interception return (Griffith kick), 0:14
Second Quarter
UT – Alvin Kamara 7 run (Aaron Medley kick), 9:41
UA – Jalen Hurts 45 run (Griffith kick), 7:23
Third Quarter
UA – Hurts 2 run (Griffith kick), 9:02
UT – FG Medley 37, 4:03
UA – Hurts 1 run (Griffith kick), 0:49
Fourth Quarter
UA – Eddie Jackson 79 punt return (Griffith kick), 14:42
UA – Bo Scarbrough 85 run (Griffith kick), 11:38
Attendance: 102,455
YARDSTICK
UA UT
First Downs 28 11
Rushes-Yards 49-438 32-32
Passing Yards 156 131
Comp-Att-Int 17-27-1 18-31-1
Plays-Total Yds 76-594 63-163
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Punts-Avg 4-50.0 10-48.3
Penalties-Yds 5-38 1-10
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Alabama: Jalen Hurts 12-132, Bo Scarbrough 5-109, Damien Harris 14-94, Josh Jacobs 6-38, B.J. Emmons 9-38, ArDarius Stewart 1-29, Cooper Bateman 2-minus 2; Tennessee: Jalen Hurd 13-28, Alvin Kamara 8-21, John Kelly 3-8, Tyler Byrd 1-6, Joshua Dobbs 7-minus 31.
PASSING – Alabama: Hurts 16-26-1-143, Bateman 1-1-0-13; Tennessee: Dobbs 16-27-1-92, Quiten Dormady 2-4-0-39.
RECEIVING – Alabama: Stewart 8-54, Calvin Ridley 5-65, O.J. Howard 1-23, Trevon Diggs 1-13, Jacobs 1-8, Damien Harris 1-minus 7; Tennessee: Josh Malone 5-61, Ethan Wolf 2-30, Jauan Jennings 3-20, Josh Smith 1-10, Kamara 1-7, Kelly 1-3, Byrd 1-1, Hurd 3-minus 1, .
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Tennessee wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) is heavily defended by Alabama defensive back Anthony Averette (28) as the ball sails past both players. The Vols managed just 163 total yards, just 32 on the ground, and suffered a 39-point loss at the hands of the No. 1-ranked Crimson Tide on Saturday. It was the Vols' 10th consecutive loss in the storied rivalry.
photo by Dennis Norwood