Alabama Steamrolls Tennessee lead by Heisman Frontrunner Tua Tagovailoa

Alabama continued their pursuit of perfection with another dominating victory against an SEC opponent. The Crimson Tide continues to look unstoppable as they extend their 20+ point win margin to an eighth game in a row. Alabama posted the highest scoring total in a game in Neyland stadium. This goes to show how dominant Tagovailoa and the Alabama offense is, now averaging 54.1 PPG, (yes this is football we’re talking about here) easily leading the country.

Alabama started out lightning fast as always, ending their first drive with the usual Tagovailoa to Jerry Jeudy TD pass. The Volunteers defense could not slow down this high powered Crimson Tide offense, falling into a first quarter hole, 28-0. The Tide never looked back from there, Tua Tagovailoa connected for touchdowns with receivers Jaylen Waddle, Henry Ruggs III, and tight end Irv Smith Jr. Third string running back Josh Jacobs got the heaviest load of the carries due to the contrast in scores. Jacobs ran for a pair of scores, along with starting back Damien Harris and backup quarterback Jalen Hurts to seal the deal. For Tennessee, starting QB Jarrett Guarantano went down in the second quarter after getting drilled by Bama’s star linebacker, Mack Wilson. Former Stanford quarterback, Keller Chryst, stepped into the starting role and performed pretty well in Guarantano’s absence. Chryst threw two touchdowns to running back Ty Chandler and wide-out Tyler Byrd to cut the halftime deficit to 42-14. At that point, it was too much for the Vols to overcome the shortfall, with the final score ending in favor of Alabama, 58-21.

Tua Tagovailoa extended his Heisman lead, throwing for 306 yards and 4 touchdowns on 19/29 passing, also continuing his QBR and average yards per passing attempt, leading the country in both. But, the bad news for Alabama, backup quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a pick six and later injured his ankle on his 21 yard touchdown run late in the third. The Crimson Tide coaching staff was unaware of the injury until after the game. Hurts underwent minor surgery on a small high ankle sprain. Hurts will have a couple of weeks to recover on Alabama’s bye week before the big game at LSU. Josh Jacobs lead the Tide in rushing, accumulating 68 yards with a pair of rushing touchdowns. True freshman Jaylen Waddle lead Alabama in receiving, catching four passes for 117 yards, a 29.3 avg. Junior DB Deionte Thompson lead the Tide with seven tackles. 

Keller Chryst took over as starting quarterback and performed well with his opportunity. Chryst threw for 164 yards with a pair of pass touchdowns on 9-15 passing. Sophomore RB Tim Jordan lead the Vols in rushing, putting up 50 total yards. Junior wide-out Jauan Jennings posted 102 yards on 6 catches. Tennessee DL Kyle Phillips had the games lone interception off Jalen Hurts that went for six. Junior DB Nigel Warrior lead the Vols with 8 tackles.

All in all, Nick Saban and Alabama continue their dominating season, now given a 85% chance to make the playoff and a 39% chance to win the whole thing following the big win over Tennessee. 

Next games up:

Alabama: Bye week this weekend but @ #4 LSU on 11/3.

Tennessee: 10/27 @ South Carolina.

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