The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Tennessee in Bryant-Denny convincingly.
Tennessee thought they had the manpower to compete, but the Tide were simply better than the Vols in this one.
Alabama was far and away better than the Volunteers in this 52-24 contest.
Tennessee came out hot against the Tide going up 14-7 in the first quarter and made this game look like it was going to be a dog fight early, but Alabama’s depth and talent showed and pushed them through to a dominant win. Now the rivalry game has a new streak of Alabama winning 15 games straight,
Many wondered if Alabama was the real deal after they lost to Texas A&M just a few weeks ago, but the Tide put that notion to rest.
Quarterback play was a big story line for this game, as no one knew for sure if it would be Bryce Young versus Hendon Hooker or Joe Milton III. Hooker, the better of the two, ended up getting the start after being cleared of his injury.
However, Young was much better.
Young has a day
Young’s first year as a starter has been exceptional. While Hooker has been money for Tennessee after Milton went down for the Vols.
Instead of a back and forth battle like some people expected, Young was the one that had a fantastic game. His throws were completed 72% of the time, throwing for 371 yards and two touchdowns on the night.
Hooker had a good game as well throwing for 282 yards and three touchdowns. However, Tennessee couldn’t quite get their run game going enough to make the difference for the Vols.
Tennessee racked up only 64 yards rushing.
The Tide ran the ball… well
Brian Robinson JR. was a dynamic playmaker again in this game, and is still giving the Tide a huge relief on offense.
Robinson picked up 107 yards on the ground which included three rushing touchdowns. He also managed to pick up 16 yards on catches in this matchup. A dynamic back can be priceless in college football, and it is necessary in Bama’s offense.
Maybe even more important than Robinson’s ground game was when Young started to run the ball.
Young said that he would run the ball more when the opportunity presented itself. He did just while leading every running back except Robinson in this game. Young ran the ball for 42 yards which is a season high for the quarterback who is mobile no matter what people say.
Saban’s game plan
Nick Saban’s game plan for tonight was to limit what Tennessee could do on defense by stopping the run, and to make Young’s legs a threat on the offense.
Tennessee has a high-tempo offense, something Saban has been used to seeing ever since Gus Malzahn first brought it to the SEC in 2013. Needless to say, he knows how to defend it. Shut down the run, and you can shut down the entire flow of an up-tempo offensive attack.
Saban also made Young’s legs a threat and concern for Tennessee. He did this in a brilliant way by running the young quarterback early. This then led to the Volunteer defense getting burned on RPO’s all night long after quarter one.
When any defense is worried about the quarterback run, they cheat up and leave a receiver open. After that the Vol’s defense started to dissipate before Bama’s eyes. Saban decided to switch up mid-game by making Young a true dual-threat quarterback.
This eventually led to Alabama being able to hit Jameson Williams and John Metchie III in the passing game to carve up the Tennessee defense. They never knew if Young was going to run for it or throw the ball 15 yards in the zone.
This leads to the final point.
Alabama attacks the zone full-on
Tennessee ran zone against Alabama most of the night, which is a way to give a bend don’t break situation to a defense.
However, against Alabama, every team that bends does end up breaking by the end of the game. This is big for the Tide considering Auburn runs the exact same style of defense under new defensive coordinator Derek Mason.
Auburn is barely surviving their schedule, but are the only real threat left for the Tide. Yet, the Tigers are severely less talented than the Tide. The Tide now get a little practice against a similar-style defense in a mid-season matchup.
The Tide have some easy wins in front of them and really shouldn’t worry about the Tigers either, but let us not forget that anything can happen on an odd year in Jordan-Hare.
While the zone is effective for defenses in some games the Alabama defense is already so aggressive, intelligent, and talented. Except the first half when the secondary had busted coverage on back-to-back series to let the Tide catch back up.
Alabama will have a BYE next week to rest up before facing LSU in Bryant-Denny Stadium on November 6. Will the BYE help Alabama get healthy, or will it pause its momentum before playing an intense rival?
If the Tide plays like they did this week, it will surely roll.
Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: Hayden@yellowhammernews.com or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.
