KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee will head into its midseason open date off a humbling blowout loss at the hands of top-ranked Alabama, which thoroughly dominated the injury-ravaged Volunteers.
It was a disappointing defeat for Tennessee, but the Vols must use its off week to get healthy and prep for the season's stretch run. Tennessee can't slip up and must hope for Florida to lose once. If it happens, the Vols would win the SEC East Division and reach the first SEC championship game for the first time since 2007.
First, here's a review of Saturday's humbling loss.
SATURDAY'S STAR
In what was an ugly performance for Tennessee in all three phases of the game as Alabama completely dominated from start to finish, the nod has to go to Derek Barnett, who had a hand in two turnovers to keep Saturday's rout from being worse than it was. He had a sack-fumble to set up the Vols' lone touchdown and later intercepted a pass tipped by Shy Tuttle with Alabama threatening.
SATURDAY'S STAT
Jalen Hurts didn't look like a freshman quarterback in Alabama's road wins at Ole Miss and Arkansas, and he certainly didn't on Saturday. The rookie torched Tennessee with 132 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries. He only needed to throw for 143 yards as the Crimson Tide rolled up a ridiculous 438 yards on the ground. Led by Hurts Alabama averaged 8.9 yards per carry.
TURNING POINT
Though Alabama was dominating the box score, Tennessee pulled to within 14-7 early in the second quarter after the Vols turned a fumble into an Alvin Kamara touchdown run. The Tide, as they always seem to do in such situations, had an answer. ArDarius Stewart caught a swing pass and picked up a first down on third-and-8, and Hurts broke free for a 45-yard scoring gallop to make it 21-7.
HIGHLIGHT PLAY
Aside from Barnett's two plays the next-best option may have come in fourth-quarter garbage time. After Alabama took a 49-10 lead following two highlight-reel touchdowns of its own (Eddie Jackson's punt return and Bo Scarbrough's 85-yard run), backup quarterback Quinten Dormady lofted a 36-yard pass to Josh Malone. Tennessee's longest plays prior to the pass were 16 and 12 yards.
WHAT IT MEANS
The feel-good first half of the season for Tennessee ended in a humbling reality check, as the nation's No. 1 team inflicted a heavy defeat on the shorthanded Vols. After three straight down-to-the-wire high-intensity SEC games, the Vols looked like they were out of gas. If there's any positives from the defeat it's that Tennessee finally reached an open date it badly needs with its lengthy injury list.
BY THE NUMBERS
116: When backup quarterback Quinten Dormady entered the game with Alabama leading 49-10 in the fourth quarter, Tennessee had 116 yards of offense. A unit that lit up Florida for 498 yards and Texas A&M for 684 yards could get nothing going against the Crimson Tide. Excluding garbage time the Vols averaged 2.1 yards per play and managed 24 rushing yards.
39: Saturday was Tennessee's worst loss since Oregon and Marcus Mariota rolled to a 59-14 win against the Vols in Eugene in the third game of Butch Jones's tenure in 2013. The Vols had gone 24 games without a double-digit loss dating back to a 34-20 loss against Alabama in 2014. Alabama's biggest win in its rivalry with Tennessee was 51-0 in 1906.
7: Tennessee's offensive line was overwhelmed by Alabama's defensive front right from the opening kickoff. In the Vols' first 15 snaps, the Crimson Tide recorded seven tackles for loss and three sacks. Those three possessions ended in fourth-and-30, fourth-and-27 and fourth-and-19 and led to Tennessee finishing the first quarter with 8 yards of offense.
309-41: Alabama dominated the first half in the box score, but only led 21-7 at halftime thanks to a couple of turnovers and a missed field goal. The Tide outgained the Vols 245-11 in rushing and averaged 7 yards per play while holding Tennessee to a paltry 1.2 yards per snap. Despite averaging 9 yards per rush, Alabama attempted 17 passes for some reason.
32-6: The combined record of Tennessee's first seven opponents in games not involving the Vols. The only losses belong to Appalachian State (to Miami), Virginia Tech (Syracuse), Ohio (Texas State and Eastern Michigan) and Georgia (Ole Miss and Vanderbilt). Tennessee is done with the brutal half of the schedule, and none of the Vols' five remaining opponents currently have winning records.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.