Alabama’s recurring issues haunted them in their 24-17 loss to Tennessee on Saturday. The Volunteers only had two sacks, but they pressured Jalen Milroe all day. The offense couldn’t sustain drives going three for 14 on third down. They routinely shot themselves in the foot by being penalized 15 times for 115 yards. They couldn’t run the ball and couldn’t stop the run. There were so many opportunities that they routinely squandered.
Ugly Start
Alabama didn’t start strong. The first drive was a three-and-out featuring a one-yard loss by Jam Miller, a penalty, and a fumbled snap by Milroe. Tennessee running-back Dylan Sampson fumbled the ball back when Malachi Moore dislodged it. But Alabama couldn’t capitalize.
The offense finally put together a drive and got down to the five. But Milroe blew it when he tried a back-shoulder throw to Ryan Williams in the end-zone. It was off-target and intercepted by Jermod McCoy who returned it 54 yards. Fortunately for Alabama, Nico Iamaleava’s struggles continued. He had two receivers open for touchdowns and badly overthrew them both. Tennessee still got into field goal range, but Max Gilbert missed keeping the game scoreless.
Feeding Williams
DeBoer discussed wanting to get Williams more targets after his measly four catches for 32 yards last week. Williams was targeted six times just in the first quarter. Two minutes into the second quarter, he already had as many catches and more yards than last week. That culminated when Milroe hit him for a six-yard touchdown to give them a 7-0 lead.
Iamaleava Drama
The Volunteers were forced to put backup quarterback Gaston Moore in when Iamaleava was briefly injured. On a third and nine, the fifth-year senior made a horrible decision throwing into double coverage and was intercepted by Moore. He returned it 41 yards to give them great field position. Another ugly sequence ruined it: A holding penalty, delay of game, and an intentional grounding after nearly another delay of game pushed them out of field goal range.
Iamaleava returned the favor after finally putting a good drive together. Inside the red zone, he rolled out of the pocket and tried to throw into double coverage as he got hit. It fell well short, right into the arms of Jaylen Mbakwe for an interception. Neither offense could get much going the rest of the half. They exchanged missed field goals and it remained 7-0 at the break.
Run Focused
Alabama struggled running the ball in the first half, carrying it 18 times for only 20 yards. On the first drive of the second half, they managed eight carries for 42 yards. It seemed like they planned to take a conservative approach until Tennessee proved they could move the ball. They still had to settle for a punt but managed to flip the field.
The logical move was for the defense to focus on stopping Sampson, the country’s leading rusher. Other than the 20-yard run he fumbled on, they held him to eight carries for 21 yards in the first half. But on this drive alone, he ran for 53 yards. After an Iamaleava 27-yard run and another Bama penalty, Sampson ran it in to tie it.
Scoring Starts
Alabama abandoned the conservative approach. Milroe threw it seven of the next nine plays leading to a Graham Nicholson field goal to put Alabama up 10-7. That wouldn’t last long. Iamaleava finally hit an open receiver with a dime to Dont’e Thorton Jr. for 55 down to the three. Next play, Sampson ran it in to take the lead 14-10. Alabama needed to respond and did. Milroe completed all four of his passes and Jam Miller scored from seven yards out to go up 17-14.
Iamaleava missed another wide-open receiver down the seam for a huge gain. The drive stalled but they flipped the field pinning Bama at their own four. A three-and-out gave the ball back to the Volunteers with great field position. Then Sampson took control again with four straight carries to get them to the 16. Chris Brazzell made a beautiful 16-yard touchdown catch to give Tennessee a four-point lead with under six minutes left.
Pressure Mounts
The refs swallowed their whistles on a borderline offside no-call on Tennessee that produced a third down sack. After exchanging punts, Bama got another chance. But more pressure on Milroe on back-to-back plays put them in a fourth-and-seven. After the play, a defender got into Kendrick Law’s face. Law pushed him and got called for unnecessary roughness making it a fourth-and-22. More pressure caused a short screen pass and Bama turned it over on downs.
The Vols were able to use some clock and forced Bama to use all their timeouts before Gilbert finally connected on a field goal to give them a 24-17 lead. Milroe and company had one last chance. On second down, he threw a pass behind the receiver and it was intercepted by Will Brooks. Tennessee kneeled out the clock to ice the victory.
A Second Loss
Alabama lost to Tennessee because the issues that have hampered them remain. Milroe was inaccurate and had two turnovers. Williams had 20 targets but only caught eight passes. The run game only mustered 75 yards on 34 carries, a terrible two yards per carry. The offensive line got dominated. The defense let Sampson go off for 139 yards and two touchdowns. They couldn’t sustain drives and were penalized constantly. A team seemingly on the rise after beating Georgia now has zero margin for error if they have any hope of making the CFB playoff. And given his predecessor, DeBoer is bound to come under major fire.
