Alabama came into Knoxville with the cushion it had built over the first five weeks, and left with nothing but a fresh set of problems.
The Crimson Tide’s 60 minutes against Tennessee wiped away the goodwill from last week’s competitive loss to Georgia. That one could be explained.
This one couldn’t. Alabama looked bad from the opening snap and never found a way to steady itself in a defeat that fit the kind of losses that have become too familiar under Kalen DeBoer.
The most glaring issue was the offense, which still has no clear identity under Ryan Grubb. Alabama can play a physical brand of football, but it hasn’t committed to it.
On a tough road field with a young quarterback, the Tide didn’t even call a traditional run play until the third series, and that came after back-to-back three-and-outs. The plan never seemed to settle in, and after Saturday’s showing, it’s hard to see much of a path forward without a change.
Execution was part of the problem, but not all of it. The larger issue was how little help the offense gave Keelon Russell, even as he made the kind of high-end plays that keep hinting at what he can become.
The flashes are there. So are the mistakes.
He coughed it up three times against Tennessee, including a fumble on the opening possession for the second week in a row, and he never looked comfortable seeing the field.
“I had a horrible game. I put it all on myself. I couldn’t even lead my team down the field,” Russell said in the aftermath,” via Brett Greenberg.
The injuries only made things worse. Alabama was already shorthanded after last week’s loss to Georgia cost it Ryan Coleman-Williams, Racin Delgatty, and Terrance Green for the Tennessee game.
Then the Tide lost two more pieces in the first half, with star CB Zabien Brown and freshman stud RB EJ Crowell both leaving in the second quarter and not returning. That’s the reality now for Alabama: a team trying to survive a brutal stretch while limping toward next week’s matchup with Texas A&M, which had a real difficult home game this week against The Citadel, and then a bye week.
Defensively, the Tide can’t take all the blame for this one. Alabama’s offense managed just 149 yards until the final drive, when the game was already out of reach by 16 points.
Still, there were issues with Kane Wommack’s scheme that Tennessee exposed, especially after halftime. The defense held up as best it could early, but the dam broke a bit in the second half as the Vols scored touchdowns on two of their three possessions.
DeSean Bishop was a problem again, piling up 159 rushing yards while Alabama repeatedly gave him room by playing soft boxes. And when Tennessee threw, the Tide’s coverage looked too passive, allowing George MacIntyre to pile up easy completions even though Tennessee showed little interest in testing the deep ball.
With five games left, Alabama has backed itself into a corner. Road wins over Kentucky and Mississippi State helped build the 5-0 start, but that edge is gone now.
Texas A&M and LSU are still ahead, along with a trip to Vanderbilt and a home date with Auburn, the same Auburn team that just beat Georgia in Athens. At 5-2, Alabama can still make a run, but the math is simple: a sure spot in the College Football Playoff now requires five straight wins.
One more loss, and the Tide is no longer in control of its own fate.
In Other News...
DeBoer Called Out What Fueled Alabamas Offensive Meltdown At Tennessee
Tennessees defense spent Saturday night making Alabama look unsteady in all the ways that matter, forcing four turnovers and holding the Crimson Tide to just 201 total yards in a 26-10 loss in Knoxville. DeSean Bishop led the way for the Vols with 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Alabama was stuck all night trying to find any rhythm against a defense that kept the pressure on and the Tide off schedule.
Kalen DeBoer was left to sort through the offensive breakdown afterward, and his halftime message pointed straight at the emotional side of the meltdown. Alabama needed more composure and better decisions, but those fixes were easier to identify than to find once Tennessee had taken control of the game and turned every mistake into a bigger problem for the Tide. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Backed Alabama But His GameDay Warning Stood Out
As ESPNs College GameDay rolled through its weekly pick segment, the usual mix of confidence and caution came out around Alabamas trip to Tennessee. Pat McAfee and Steve Young leaned into some eye-catching calls elsewhere on the board, but the conversation around the Crimson Tide centered on a familiar theme: talent is one thing, handling the road in that atmosphere is another. Nick Saban was part of the broadcast lineup, adding his perspective as the analysts weighed the strengths and challenges facing both teams.
The picks themselves mostly tilted Alabamas way, with the panel generally backing the Crimson Tide against Tennessee while Young was the outlier. Still, Sabans presence gave the segment extra weight, especially as the discussion turned from simple prediction to warning signs and execution. Even in a show built around official picks, the broader takeaway was less about who everyone chose and more about how thin the margin can be when Alabama steps into a game like this. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Sees One Real Threat In Alabama's Trip To Neyland
The buildup to Alabamas Week 7 trip to Neyland Stadium is centered on more than just the rankings, because Tennessees defense has given the Crimson Tide a real reason to pause. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban singled out the Volunteers on College GameDay, pointing to a group that can limit scoring, defend the pass and pressure the quarterback, all traits that tend to make life difficult for even the most polished offenses.
For Alabama, that means every possession could matter in a matchup that already carries plenty of weight. The Tide are headed into one of the SECs louder environments with a defense on the other side that looks built to make the game uncomfortable, and how Alabama handles that pressure may go a long way toward deciding whether the afternoon in Knoxville turns into a statement or a struggle. [Read more 🡒]