Tennessee's Derek Barnett (9) misses a tackle on Alabama's ArDarius Stewart (13). The top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016No. 1 and rising
Top-ranked Alabama received a season-high 60 of 61 first-place votes in The Associated Press Top 25 poll released Sunday, and the Crimson Tide’s reward is a second straight top-10 matchup featuring Southeastern Conference teams. Tennessee dropped nine spots in the poll after being demolished by the Tide, and now Alabama (7-0, 4-0) prepares to host sixth-ranked Texas A&M (6-0, 4-0) with sole possession of first place in the SEC West at stake. Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. Eastern game, which will be shown on CBS, will be the Tide’s 43rd game played as a No. 1-ranked team in Nick Saban’s 10 seasons as coach. Texas A&M was off this past week after needing double overtime to beat visiting Tennessee 45-38 on Oct. 8.
There are many ways to describe Alabama's performance during Saturday afternoon's 49-10 trampling of Tennessee inside Neyland Stadium.
Complete. Dominant. Impressive. Thorough.
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was quick to offer "unselfish," given the way his receivers and tight ends helped pave the way for 438 rushing yards. Alabama's rushing total, which was highlighted by freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts carrying 12 times for 132 yards, was its highest against the Volunteers since the Tide amassed 451 in a 56-28 rout at Neyland in 1986.
"When you run the ball on the perimeter as much as we do, I think it's critical that those guys do a great job of blocking," Saban said. "On all of Jalen's long runs on the pull, we cracked somebody and made a very effective block. The tight end coming around blocks the next guy, and we did a great job on the edge of doing that.
"It says a lot about ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley and all the receivers that we have, and it says a lot about O.J. Howard. They could be worrying about how many passes they catch, but they're willing to do what's best for the team. They do a great job of blocking on the perimeter."
Just how great?
According to ESPN, Alabama had 14 runs Saturday in which the first contact from the Tennessee defense was not made until at least 10 yards down the field. The Volunteers allowed 354 yards on zone-read rushes, which is the most by any school in a Power Five conference during the past five seasons.
"I didn't know we had that many yards rushing, but that's very exciting and very good to hear," Howard said. "We kept the momentum on our side the entire game, and we never really let them kind of get it going their way. That's one of the best things we did all day. We kept the momentum on our side, and they ran out of gas."
Alabama did have some success in the passing game as well, with Stewart catching eight passes for 54 yards and Ridley hauling in five for 65. Howard, the star of the Crimson Tide's 45-40 win over Clemson in January's national championship game with five catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns, had one reception Saturday for 23 yards.
Howard has 14 catches for 209 yards this season, or one more yard than he had against Clemson, but he's not consuming himself with numbers.
"I just play hard, and I can't get frustrated," Howard said. "Sometimes when you get frustrated, that's when you mess up the most, so I just keep focusing and do my job."
Which on Saturday was a lot of blocking as part of an offense that averaged 8.9 yards per carry.
Howard's lone catch occurred late in the third quarter and all but put the game away. The 6-foot-6, 242-pounder rambled down to Tennessee's 1-yard line before being brought down by Todd Kelly Jr., and it set up a Hurts touchdown run on the ensuing play that extended the Crimson Tide's lead to 35-10.
"I was pretty open, and I thought I was going to score," Howard said. "It came up short, but I was pretty open."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.