In Knoxville on Saturday, Alabama is likely to run straight into a Tennessee offense that still hasn’t found its footing.
For the Crimson Tide, the timing matters. The close finish against Georgia did little to dent Alabama’s playoff case, but this trip to Tennessee has quietly become one of those games that can shape how the committee views them later. If Alabama wants to stay in the hunt for a high seed, this is the one it has to have.
What makes the matchup especially intriguing is that Tennessee no longer looks like the explosive Josh Heupel attack people were talking about a year ago. That “Offensive Savant” label doesn’t fit right now. The Vols are searching, and the problem starts under center.
Freshman Faizon Brandon injured his shoulder in Tennessee’s loss to Texas. He opened against Auburn, but he wasn’t effective in limited snaps.
George MacIntyre was better in that game, though he only threw 10 passes. Tennessee didn’t need much more through the air because DeSean Bishop steamrolled Auburn for 220 rushing yards.
Heupel then kept things vague heading into the Arkansas game, but Brandon had not practiced, so MacIntyre got the start against the Razorbacks. The second-year quarterback threw for 247 yards, and Tennessee needed every bit of it. The game was tied in the fourth quarter before the Vols pulled away, and that comeback leaned heavily on Bishop’s 59-yard run.
All signs point to more uncertainty this week, with Heupel expected to stay coy about Brandon’s health and the quarterback decision against Alabama. One Tennessee site, All for Tennessee, is already pushing for MacIntyre to start, saying he gives Tennessee the “best chance to beat Alabama.”
That urgency makes sense when you look at what Tennessee has been able to do on the ground. After Georgia’s backups Dwight Phillips Jr. and Bo Walker combined for 189 yards against Alabama at a 7-yard clip per carry, Bishop has to be licking his chops for Saturday.
Still, Alabama has a clear path to control this game.
Heupel’s offense is built on wide splits and spacing, the kind of setup that can create lanes for running backs if the defense gets stretched too thin. Arkansas tried to take that away by loading the box and making MacIntyre throw. Alabama’s secondary hasn’t been perfectly steady, but it’s good enough for Kane Wommack to crowd the line and force Tennessee into tougher spots.
That’s where this matchup tilts. Tennessee has faced only two Power Four opponents with winning records, and against those teams its passing offense has been next-to-last in the SEC. MacIntyre isn’t about to turn into one of the league’s best quarterbacks overnight.
If Alabama can slow Bishop by putting extra bodies near the line, it puts Tennessee exactly where the Tide want it: asking the passing game to carry the load. If that happens, Alabama should be in position to win.
In Other News...
Alabama Faces Ugly Fallout After Tense Georgia Finish
Alabama spent the postgame answering for much more than a hard-fought loss to Georgia, as the athletic department moved quickly to address what happened in the stands after the final whistle. Following the close finish and a night already defined by disputed officiating calls, fans threw garbage, including water bottles and beer cans, onto the field, creating an ugly scene that forced a public address announcement and had Georgia players keeping their helmets on as they made their way out.
The schools statement condemned the conduct as unacceptable, said it was gathering information and made clear it will not tolerate that kind of behavior. For Alabama, the fallout from a tense SEC showdown now stretches beyond the scoreboard, with the focus shifting to what comes next for a program that has long prided itself on home-field standards as much as results. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Fans Are Livid Over One Bigger SEC Question
Saturdays Alabama-Georgia game delivered the kind of heavyweight SEC finish that gets replayed and dissected long after the final whistle, but much of the attention afterward drifted away from the scoreboard and toward the officiating. Several moments drew scrutiny across social media, with players and commentators voicing frustration and confusion over how the game was called, a familiar kind of postgame noise in a rivalry game that already carries plenty of emotional weight.
For Alabama fans, the bigger concern now is what the conference does next, or whether it says anything at all. The late-game sequence under the microscope has only sharpened the debate, especially because the SEC has not issued a statement yet, and there is recent precedent for the league taking action after a controversial call in another game. Until the conference addresses it, the frustration around this one is likely to keep simmering. [Read more 🡒]
Florida Just Got Another Painful Reminder Of Where This Program Stands
The Coaches Poll got a fresh shakeup after a wild weekend, and the ripple effects reached well beyond the top of the board. Texas, which had been sitting at No. 1, was one of the biggest losers after falling to Oklahoma, while UCLA climbed after its upset win and teams like LSU and Oregon slid in the other direction as voters reworked the order heading into the next round of games.
Wake Forest also moved into the rankings, a reminder of how quickly the poll can turn when a few key results land the wrong way. For programs like Florida, the bigger takeaway is less about who rose and fell in one chaotic week and more about the gap the rankings still reflect, with the nations elite separating themselves fast and leaving everyone else trying to keep pace. [Read more 🡒]