Three Things Tennessee Must Do to Beat Alabama
Credit: University of Tennessee Athletics
By Tucker Harlin
#11 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1) is set to host #7 Alabama (5-1, 2-1) in Neyland Stadium Saturday.
These are my three things Tennessee needs to do in order to take down Alabama. One is specific to this game, another involves both this game and the Arkansas game, and the other involves the Florida game.
EXECUTE ON OFFENSE
This seems like a very simple description of what went wrong with the offense in the win over Florida, but lack of execution is what kept it from reaching its full potential.
Sure, the offensive line was subpar in several instances last Saturday. But the biggest issue was how painstakingly close this offense was to returning to the form it mastered in 2022.
The deficiency of big plays came down to drops, miscommunications, bad reads, and off target throws. The play calls displayed an effort and desire to return to the form of offense we watched take the college football world by storm two years ago.
Nothing about the way Alabama’s defense has played in the last three games leads me to believe Tennessee should be stagnant on offense for a third straight game.
It all comes down to execution.
APPLY WHAT YOU LEARNED AGAINST TAYLEN GREEN TO JALEN MILROE
Arkansas was supposed to serve as a warmup game for Jalen Milroe and Alabama two weeks ago. I can’t say Tennessee passed the Taylen Green test.
While Tennessee made the necessary adjustments to prevent Green from running all over it, Green found other ways to impact the game in the air.
The zone defense the Vols ran wasn’t effective in stopping the pass in many situations. Green deserves credit for making some terrific throws over the course of the game, but the coverage appeared soft at points against the Razorbacks.
No disrespect intended here but Alabama is immensely more talented at receiver than Arkansas.
Ryan Williams proved what he could do in front of the entire nation at the end of September. Outside of Williams, Germie Bernard is a productive piece and the Tide will get both Kobe Prentice and Kendrick Law back in the mix after they missed time due to injury.
South Carolina shook Milroe’s confidence through the air last week, but it had no answer once Alabama made an effort to keep the ball on the ground.
Milroe hurt Tennessee with the deep shot he took to Isaiah Bond last season more than he did with his legs last season.
MAKE THE OFFENSIVE FRONT FEEL THE WRATH OF RODNEY GARNER
Alabama’s offensive line had a rough day against South Carolina last week, surrendering four sacks and nine tackles for loss to the Gamecocks’ defensive front.
Give credit where it’s due because South Carolina has a very good defensive front, but Alabama’s offensive front is still a weak point like it was all of last season.
Tennessee had four sacks in Tuscaloosa last season. Don’t forget how the Tide was unable to get a snap off the ground in the Rose Bowl loss to Michigan.
The environment is going to be ripe for pre-snap penalties on Alabama. We’ve been waiting for the beast of James Pearce to be unleashed all season, and there have been flashes in the last two weeks.
This feels like a game where the Vols front can eat.
