KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14 Tennessee football hosted No. 6 Alabama for the annual Third Saturday in October. Both teams wore their home uniforms in Neyland Stadium for the first time since Oct. 17, 1970, and the Vols captured a 26-10 win.
Tennessee really got after Keelon Russell and Alabama from the start. This defense continues to be what keeps this team in games and a major threat to anyone it plays. Russell took five sacks on the day, which pushed Tennessee’s nation-leading total from 25 to 30. The Vols came in with 48 tackles for loss, fourth in the nation and first in the SEC, and added 10 more against Alabama. Tyree Weathersby and Jeremiah Telander each had two sacks, and Weathersby also recorded 2.5 tackles for loss.
“They obviously got to Keelon early and kept us from being able to really get anything going,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “That kind of wears on you, I don’t care who you are as a quarterback.”
Josh Heupel credited how the front works together. The word unselfish and selfless are spoken every week in terms of this group.
“Our edges were able to get to the quarterback tonight to affect him,” Heupel said. “He escaped on a couple of plays, but I think the key is our front is playing well off of each other. That’s in our twist game, our run stunts. They’re executing and performing together, and it takes a level of unselfishness to do that, too.”
Dejuan Lane was a problem. He was everywhere and also picked off Russell for Tennessee’s first interception of the game. Amare Campbell always seemed to be around the ball, finishing with a team-leading eight tackles, and overall this Vols defense did what it’s been expected to do.
On the other side of the ball, Tennessee’s offense took a while to turn in a complete effort. Tennessee often got deep into Alabama territory in the first half but stalled and settled on four Cooper Ranvier field goals. That is where the concern still remains with this team, and the Vols are fortunate to have a defense that buys them a lot of time to get things right.
“You kick field goals like that, typically it comes back to bite you in the butt,” Heupel said. “We were able to, in some ways, get away with that because of an elite defensive performance.”
Alabama came into Saturday averaging 44 points per game and left Neyland with 10. The Tide finished with 54 rushing yards on 26 carries. Russell lost 37 yards on the ground, mostly from the sacks. Alabama went 0-for-7 on third down in the first half and finished 2-of-13. The Tide had 201 total yards, and 108 of that came in the second half.
The turnovers were the biggest part of it. Telander’s strip sack set up the second field goal. Lane had the interception, and he also recovered Daniel Hill’s fumble on a fourth-and-1 at the Tennessee 11 right before halftime. Kayin Lee picked off Russell in the end zone on Alabama’s last drive. That’s four takeaways, and Tennessee only got three points off of them. You can’t do that against most good teams and win, but this defense let them get away with it.
The offense did show up in the fourth quarter. The Vols went 15 plays and 72 yards and burned 9:32 off the clock, and DeSean Bishop finished it with his second touchdown. Bishop ended with 159 yards on 32 carries. That drive is what Tennessee needs more of, but the defense is the reason it was a two-score game to begin with.
“He’s a special back,” Heupel said of Bishop. “Smart, tough, physical. Finishes runs, runs through trash. A dirty two, three-yard gain, he’s pushing for five. It changes the game.”
People have talked about Xavier Gilliam and this defense for weeks. Gilliam had a quiet day on the stat sheet, but he still made an impact on the game. Now, I feel like this game will make people refer to the Vols’ defense in an even greater sense. A lot of people thought it would take a perfect game on both sides of the ball to beat Alabama, and honestly it didn’t. Tennessee feels like one of those rare championship-type teams that can ride their defense to wins.
“Probably holistically in conference play, yes, the best that we’ve been,” Heupel said. “There’s so much left out there for us. Constant, continued growth. If we control our controllables on the offensive side of the ball, special teams, we’ve got a chance to continue to grow and be a really good football team.”
