Tennessee Final Thoughts

The confidence Nick Saban has in the Alabama defense has never been more evident than when he chose to go for it on 4th and 1 from the three yard line at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. He knew that the Alabama defense would be able to hold the Vols offense that actually started getting a little confidence at the end of the 1st quarter.



The Alabama offense struggled early against a very good Tennessee defensive line, but adjusted nicely to lead a six play 66 yard drive, which included two long catches by Julio Jones, ending in a Glen Coffee touchdown. The Alabama team has become so much more of a cohesive unit than last year which would have been busy trying to find out who to blame rather than solve the problem.



Julio Jones has been getting better every week, and this week was no exception. Jones had six receptions for 103 yards receiving. Two of those catches were momentum building catches at a time when the Alabama offense was being held stagnant by a great Vols defense.



The depth of the Alabama receiving core, definitely surprised me. Catches were made by seven different tide receivers. Brad Smelley, fifth on the tight end depth chart, and Will Oakley, not even in the top 10 of wide receiver depth chart, were two great examples of the confidence this team has right now. If players this low on the depth chart are making big plays at important times, the other players getting more playing time, must be feeling like super heroes.



The Alabama defense playing well without Terrance Cody. The defense was put into some very tough situations after a fumble by Arenas and a blocked put which both gave Tennessee the ball within field goal range. The Alabama defense dominated the line of scrimmage and Vols wide receivers were blanketed by the Alabama secondary. Josh Chapman and Lorenzo Washington required double team help from the guards and played a major role in holding the Tennessee offense to just 173 total yards offensively.



Lee Tiffin played the best game he has played his entire career. Tiffin contributed 11 points to the Tide’s 29 total by going 3 for 3 on field goals (with a long of 43 yards) and 2 for 2 on extra points. Most importantly, Tiffin made all of his field goals at the beginning of the game that looked like it was going to come down to special teams.



Oh yeah, and Alabama proved they can play for all four quarters. I was definitely wondering how the Tide would react in the second half to not having a big lead at halftime. Not only did the Tide play well in the second half but they held the Vols offense to just 16 plays compared to 35 in the first half.