No. 6 Alabama and No. 14 Tennessee are both walking into Saturday’s “Third Saturday in October” matchup in Knoxville with offensive uncertainty hanging over them.
For Alabama, the concern starts with Ryan Coleman-Williams. The Crimson Tide’s leading receiver went down against Georgia with head and knee injuries, and Kalen DeBoer doesn’t sound optimistic about having him back this week. Coleman-Williams leads the team with 415 receiving yards and four touchdown catches, and over the past three seasons he has piled up 1,969 yards and 16 scores, the latter tying him for ninth in program history.
"Pretty good chance we wouldn't have him here this weekend," Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. "I think he would be probably week-to-week after that."
That leaves Lotzeir Brooks and Rico Scott as the most obvious targets to help carry the load for quarterback Keelon Russell. Russell is also trying to get back on track after a rough night against Georgia, when he posted a career-low completion percentage of 53.3 and a season-low 185 passing yards while throwing one touchdown pass. Before that, he had tossed 10 touchdowns over the previous three games.
"I like the direction he continues to go," DeBoer said of Russell. "These experiences just continue to add up and stack on themselves in a positive way."
Tennessee enters with its own quarterback uncertainty. George MacIntyre got the first start of his career at Arkansas after freshman Faizon Brandon was sidelined by a shoulder injury, and MacIntyre finished 18 of 29 for 247 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Josh Heupel said Monday he isn’t ready to name a starter.
"We'll find out here through the week," Heupel said. "We get on the grass (Tuesday) and we'll work towards Saturday."
Still, Heupel pointed to some positives from MacIntyre’s outing.
"I thought he was decisive with the football," Heupel said. "He was going to the right spot, made some plays, did some things inside of the pocket that were really positive.
"... (Having live reps) certainly helps.
It helps everybody. The more reps you get, the better prepared you are."
The Volunteers have leaned hard on the run. They rank 15th nationally with 228.3 rushing yards per game, with DeSean Bishop leading the way at 678 yards and eight touchdowns. The problem is the passing game, where Tennessee sits 110th nationally at 186.5 yards per game, dead last in the SEC.
Alabama’s offense has been efficient even with a difficult slate - five of its first six games came against Power Four opponents - and the Crimson Tide still rank 13th nationally in yards per play at 7.00. But after managing only 346 yards in the loss to Georgia, they now face a Tennessee defense that has been stingy all season. The Volunteers rank 19th nationally in scoring defense at 15.5 points per game and have more interceptions, five, than passing touchdowns allowed, three, through the midpoint of the regular season.
This rivalry has tilted heavily toward the home team lately. The host has won each of the past five meetings, including Alabama’s 37-20 victory last season.
The Crimson Tide are also chasing a bigger streak of their own: they have not lost consecutive games in a season during DeBoer’s 2 1/2-year tenure.
In Other News...
Georgia's KJ Bolden Just Added Fuel To Alabama's PI Debate
Late in the Georgia-Alabama game, one of the nights most debated moments came on a pass into the end zone to Rico Scott, when SEC officials let the play go without a defensive pass interference flag on KJ Bolden. The no-call drew attention immediately because it came in a situation where Alabama had every reason to expect a whistle, and coach Kalen DeBoer made clear afterward that he disagreed with the decision, even if the league offered no added explanation.
Boldens own take only added another layer to the discussion. He said he would have wanted the call if the roles were reversed, but he also maintained it was not pass interference, a stance that will do little to settle Alabamas frustration. For the Crimson Tide, it leaves a familiar kind of postgame debate hanging over a key moment, with the officiating conversation likely to linger well beyond the final horn. [Read more 🡒]
EJ Crowell Is Pushing Alabama Toward A Bigger Backfield Decision
EJ Crowells role has been moving in the right direction for Alabama, and the reasons go beyond the box score. The running back has made clear progress in his understanding of game plans and in pass protection, two areas that can decide whether a young back stays on the field when the games tighten up. For a Crimson Tide offense still sorting out how its backfield should be divvied up, that kind of growth matters as much as any explosive run.
Crowell has seen only moderate usage in recent games, even as the staff has talked about getting him more involved. Through six games, he has 31 carries for 238 yards and four touchdowns, with his workload recently settling into a limited range while other backs continue to rotate through evolving roles. The bigger question now is whether his improved trust level can translate into a more consistent share of touches as Alabama keeps shaping its backfield plan. [Read more 🡒]
Derrick Henry Came Up Huge In Ravens' Wild Prime-Time Win
Derrick Henry kept Baltimore afloat in a wild prime-time game Sunday night, giving the Ravens the kind of steady, punishing production they needed while playing without injured quarterback Lamar Jackson. Baltimore outlasted Atlanta 30-23 in overtime in Week 5, and Henry was right in the middle of it with a physical ground game and a touchdown catch that helped the Ravens stay in striking distance when the night started to tilt in a few different directions.
The game tightened even more late, when Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. went down with a rib injury and the chaos only deepened in overtime. Baltimore still found a way to finish, and the final swing came on a game-ending interception that closed out one of those bruising, odd October games that can reshape a season's feel in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]