Alabama will be without its top wide receiver when it faces Tennessee on Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Coleman-Williams was listed as “OUT” on the SEC Availability Report on Wednesday night, meaning the Crimson Tide will have to line up against the Vols without the player who leads the team in receiving yards and touchdowns.
Coleman-Williams is working through a lingering lower-body injury, and Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday that the receiver is also dealing with a head issue after taking a hit against Georgia last weekend.
“Ryan has got a couple things going on,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said on Monday. “Got to work through an injury with his knee that’s been kind of going on.
We’ll deal with that. Got the head issue, as well.
Gonna address that, even the lower extremity there, this week. Pretty good chance we wouldn’t have him here this weekend.
Probably be week-to-week after that.”
Coleman-Williams has been central to Alabama’s passing game through six games. He has 23 catches for 415 yards and four touchdowns, and while his reception total is tied with teammate Lotzeir Brooks, he still sits first on the Crimson Tide in yards and scores.
The numbers back up how much trouble he’s caused Tennessee in recent seasons, too. Against the Vols last year, Coleman-Williams finished with five catches for 87 yards and a rushing attempt for 16 yards in Alabama’s win. In his freshman season, he posted eight receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Tennessee.
That history sits inside a matchup that’s been evenly split lately. Alabama and Tennessee have split their last four meetings, with each team winning twice at home. The Crimson Tide beat Joey Aguilar’s Tennessee squad 37-20 in Tuscaloosa last season.
Both teams come in at 5-1. Tennessee has wins over Furman, Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State, Auburn, and Arkansas.
Alabama’s victories have come against East Carolina, Kentucky, Florida State, South Carolina, and Mississippi State. The Crimson Tide’s lone loss came against Georgia last weekend in Tuscaloosa by a field goal.
Tennessee is 2-3 against Alabama during the Josh Heupel era, while Heupel is 1-1 against Kalen DeBoer’s Crimson Tide. The Vols won in 2022 and 2024, and Alabama won in 2021, 2023, and 2025.
No. 14 Tennessee will host No.
6 Alabama on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Neyland Stadium.
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