No. 6 Alabama’s rough stretch kept rolling Saturday in Knoxville, where Tennessee handed the Crimson Tide a 26-10 loss at Neyland Stadium.
The defeat gave Alabama its first set of consecutive losses since 2013. That year, the Crimson Tide dropped games to Auburn and Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. It also marked Alabama’s first back-to-back regular-season losses since 2007, Nick Saban’s first season.
For a team that had spent the early part of the season piling up points in bunches - Alabama was the only team in the country in recent years to score at least 45 points in each of its first five games - the last two outings have looked nothing like that version. After managing only 17 points against Georgia, the fewest the Tide has scored at home since 2011, Alabama again failed to get to 20 on Saturday.
The opening half was a slog from the start for Kalen DeBoer’s offense. Alabama’s first four possessions of the game went fumble, punt, interception, punt, and the Tide did not get into positive yardage until there were about two minutes left in the first quarter.
Still, the defense kept Alabama within reach. Tennessee opened with a field goal, and even after the Volunteers started their next two drives in the red zone, they came away with only two more field goals. The Vols then punted on their next two possessions, and after Alabama answered with a punt of its own, safety Ivan Taylor picked off George MacIntyre and gave the Tide the ball in the red zone.
That set up Alabama’s first touchdown, a 19-yard run by quarterback Keelon Russell with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. Russell, who struggled in the pocket through much of the first half, punched it in himself to get Alabama on the board.
The teams traded field goals the rest of the half, sending Tennessee into the break up 12-10. Even with the score close, Alabama’s first-half numbers told the story: 93 total yards, no conversions on seven third-down tries and just 3.3 yards per play. The Tide also coughed it up in the red zone late in the second quarter.
Tennessee seized control coming out of halftime. On the Volunteers’ first possession of the third quarter, DeSean Bishop scored after Alabama turned the ball over on downs.
Alabama also lost captain and cornerback Zabien Brown, along with freshman running back EJ Crowell, to injuries in the second half, and the Tide felt those absences as the game wore on. Bishop found the end zone again, and Alabama was shut out over the final two quarters.
The loss drops Alabama to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide will return home to face Texas A&M on Oct. 24 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In Other News...
DeBoer Called Out What Fueled Alabamas Offensive Meltdown At Tennessee
Tennessees defense spent the afternoon turning Alabamas offense into a mess, and the numbers told the story as much as the score did. DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns in No. 14 Tennessees 26-10 win over No. 6 Alabama, while the Crimson Tide managed only 201 total yards and went just 2 of 13 on third down. The turnovers piled up, too, and the result was a game in which Alabama rarely looked settled long enough to build any rhythm.
Kalen DeBoer pointed to the same issue at halftime, when he said his team needed to stay composed and make better decisions. Thats the part Alabama will probably spend the most time sorting through after a loss like this, because the problems were not limited to one bad series or one breakdown. Against a Tennessee defense that kept forcing the issue, the Tide never found a clean offensive answer, and the frustration only mounted as the game slipped away. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Suddenly Has Two Crucial Injury Questions After Tennessee Loss
Alabamas bruising night in the loss to Tennessee brought more than just a setback in the standings, it added two injury situations the Crimson Tide will now have to sort through. Cornerback Zabien Brown and running back EJ Crowell both went down with lower-extremity injuries in the first half, forcing Alabama to keep adjusting on the fly in a game already shaped by absences and patchwork depth at multiple spots.
Brown made it back to the sideline in the second half, offering at least a small sign of hope, but Crowell did not return and left with a knee brace. With Alabama already missing several key players and leaning on replacements throughout the game, the health of both Brown and Crowell could quickly become one of the biggest questions heading into the next stretch of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Alabamas Offense Has Created A Playoff Problem Fans Cant Ignore
After a fast start that had Alabama looking like a playoff lock, the offense has hit a stretch that has made the margin for error a lot thinner. Consecutive losses to Georgia and Tennessee have put the spotlight on a unit that once seemed to have answers, with Kalen DeBoer pointing to the run game, penalties and the lack of explosive plays as reasons the Tide have stumbled.
At 5-2, Alabama is still very much alive in the College Football Playoff conversation, but the path forward looks different now. The bigger concern is whether the offense can regain enough rhythm and consistency to keep the season from turning into a weekly referendum on how much the Tide can afford to slip again. [Read more 🡒]