A 20-year-old man was arrested and charged with theft of property after allegedly trying to pass himself off as security to get into Tennessee’s 26-10 win over Alabama on Saturday.
Court records cited by WBKO TV and WVLT say Blake Bible of Morristown was spotted drinking a White Claw while wearing an Axis uniform, the security company that had worked the event. Officers said an Axis supervisor confirmed Bible was not employed by the company and that he had stolen a polo shirt and hat so he could get into the game.
On the field, Tennessee kept Alabama bottled up behind a defense that never let the Crimson Tide settle in. DeSean Bishop powered the Volunteers with 159 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback George MacIntyre added 197 passing yards as Tennessee won its third straight game.
The Volunteers held Alabama to 201 total yards, including just 54 on the ground, and forced four turnovers. Alabama also went 2 for 13 on third down.
“Great win,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “Defense, suffocating, elite performance. Really proud of those guys.”
Alabama, meanwhile, has now dropped consecutive regular-season games for the first time since 2007 after last week’s loss to No. 1 Georgia. The Crimson Tide are 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.
Tennessee improved to 6-1 and 3-1 in the SEC, and the result extended a recent run against Alabama that now has the Volunteers winning three of the last five meetings after a stretch of 15 straight defeats. All three of those wins have come in Knoxville.
The Vols spent much of the day controlling Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell. He finished with 147 passing yards and scored the Tide’s only touchdown on a 19-yard run, but also threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
“It’s a tough environment,” Russell said. “I wouldn’t say it was the environment that shook me.
It was just a lack of a plan that I had. Just wasn’t playing my game today.”
Bishop came on even stronger after halftime, when he had 64 rushing yards at the break and 95 in the second half.
“At halftime, I told him he was going to have a big second half,” Heupel said. “He just smiled.”
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