KNOXVILLE — The frustration over the offensive struggles of the past two weeks (plus one half Saturday) went up in smoke with a second-half surge that left both the University of Tennessee’s goalposts and Alabama’s season in pieces.
Apparently the script this UT football team follows for dramatic wins over bitter rivals is for the offense to fumble away first-half scoring chances before waking up late to handle its share of the load, all while relying squarely on a generationally stout defense to find ways of keeping the margin close early before securing the win late.
For the second straight week, the Volunteers followed an inept first half of offense with a frenzied final two quarters — they gained 268 of their 411 total yards against the Crimson Tide in the second half — to keep alive their hopes for one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoff.
The defense, meanwhile, gave up an average of just 2.2 yards per rush in holding Bama to 75 yards on the ground, allowed just three of 14 third downs to be converted, and turned the Tide away without points on their final four possessions. In the end, UT won 24-17.
“Defensively, just an absolutely elite performance,” said Vols boss Josh Heupel, whose voice was raspy from the combination of celebrating and the cloud of cigar smoke that drifted throughout Neyland Stadium and his victorious team’s locker room. “Everything you had to do going into it, (control) the line of scrimmage, control the quarterback and (win) third down, they did.