KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It was the Third Saturday in October as No. 14 Tennessee hosted No. 6 Alabama at Neyland Stadium. The Vols defeated the Crimson Tide 26-10. DeSean Bishop finished with 32 carries for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Tyree Weathersby and Jeremiah Telander finished with two sacks each, and Dejuan Lane and Kayin Lee each had one interception. George MacIntyre threw for 197 yards on 21-of-31 passing with one interception.
On the first play from scrimmage, MacIntyre used a run fake and got the ball to Mike Matthews across the middle for a 14-yard gain. Tennessee mixed it up well on the first drive. Bishop ran the ball effectively, and MacIntyre hit his targets.
Radarious Jackson also hauled one in for a 17-yard gain. But Tennessee stalled at the 12 after MacIntyre fumbled it off Bishop’s arm for the second week in a row. The Vols settled for a Cooper Ranvier field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
The Vols defense came to play. They did not allow Keelon Russell to get comfortable from the start. Telander executed a strip sack, and Weathersby recovered on the Tide’s first drive. However, Tennessee could not take advantage of the short field to score a touchdown. Ranvier nailed his second field goal in as many drives to make it 6-0.
Russell and the Alabama offense had nowhere to go. Tennessee got the ball back again and again but had to settle for a Ranvier field goal, increasing the lead to 9-0. DaSaahn Brame opened that drive with a huge 26-yard reception.
Lane is one of the best safeties at coming downhill to make a tackle for loss. He also ended Alabama’s third drive with an interception. He remained aggressive and nearly picked off Russell on the next drive. Alabama gained only 21 yards in the first quarter, and it turned the ball over twice.
Tennessee got off to a sloppy start on offense in the second quarter. Penalties riddled its first drive, and the next ended in an interception. MacIntyre’s pass went through Jackson’s hands and landed in Ivan Taylor’s possession. That gave Alabama a short field. Then Russell finally broke through for a 19-yard touchdown to cut Tennessee’s lead to 9-7 after the extra point.
The Vols moved the ball. The problem was finishing drives. They put together a 12-play, 60-yard drive that took almost five minutes off the clock, and it ended in Ranvier’s fourth field goal of the first half. Bishop carried it five times for 30 yards, including a 20-yard run.
Qua Moss came up with a big hit on Rico Scott to force a dropped pass. That forced a Bama punt, but freshman Brayden Rouse made a costly mistake. Rouse ran into a crowd of Crimson Tide players and muffed the ball.
Alabama ended up in a fourth-and-1 situation, and Russell could not get a clean handoff to Daniel Hill. One of Russell’s offensive linemen stepped on his foot, and the play was off-kilter from the beginning. Tennessee went on to do nothing with it.
After Russell avoided a sack from Xavier Gilliam, Weathersby came through with one on the next play. But Russell got it all back on a 20-yard pass to Scott. Alabama had no timeouts left and took the three points with 10 seconds to go. The game went to halftime with a 12-10 Vols lead.
Alabama finally converted a third down on the first drive of the second half after starting 0-for-7. On second-and-1, Amare Campbell came up with a key 2-yard tackle for loss on Russell. But on third-and-3, Russell hit Scott for another conversion.
Ty Redmond played the run at the line of scrimmage and tackled Trae’shawn Brown for a minimal gain. A couple of plays later, Alabama went for it on fourth-and-1, and Telander and Nathan Robinson stopped him for a turnover on downs.
Tennessee finally reached paydirt. Bishop carried the ball six times for 35 yards and the touchdown on the drive to extend the Vols’ lead to 19-10. MacIntyre also went 3 of 3 for 25 yards, including a 9-yard pitch and catch to TK Keys.
Weathersby continued to be a thorn in Russell’s side and came up with a big sack, his second of the day. Alabama ended up in a fourth-and-1 situation and lined up to go for it. A false start penalty by offensive lineman Jayvin James forced the Tide to punt.
After Alabama got the ball back, Carson Gentle and Telander sacked Russell for a loss of two to start the drive. Russell took five sacks on Saturday. Lane also made a big third-down tackle to end it. Alabama’s Alex Asparuhov reached his career high in punts with his sixth of the game.
Tennessee could feel the finish line approaching and put together a monumental drive to put the game away. The Vols wore the Crimson Tide down, dared them to stop them and dominated a 15-play, 72-yard drive that burned 9:32 off the clock. Bishop took it into the end zone to make it 26-10.
The Vols defense made one final stop with a Lee interception, and Tennessee put the game away with 12 more yards from Bishop and the kneel-down.
