There will be those who bleed crimson and those who bleed orange suiting up Saturday night when No. 4 Alabama welcomes Tennessee to Bryant-Denny Stadium.
There also will be a couple of participants who have bled both.
Alabama junior inside linebacker Henry To'o To'o and Tennessee redshirt sophomore safety Brandon Turnage are in the first seasons at their respective schools and will be facing their former programs. They entered the NCAA transfer portal before attaining immediate eligibility as undergraduate students at their new locales, achieving a rapid route to a change of scenery that didn't exist a couple of years ago.
"I'm excited for it," Tennessee senior center Jerome Carvin said with a smile this week when asked about facing To'o To'o. "He was a great teammate when he was here, and we love him for that, but now he's on the other side, so he's definitely our enemy."
To'o To'o led last season's Volunteers with 76 tackles but entered the portal in January following the firing of former coach Jeremy Pruitt. The 6-foot-2, 228-pounder from Sacramento now leads the Crimson Tide with 54 stops and has three tackles for loss.
In last Saturday night's 49-9 drubbing of Mississippi State in Starkville, To'o To'o amassed 13 tackles and 1.5 lost-yardage stops.
"He and I are cool," Vols fifth-year senior defensive tackle Matthew Butler said. "We talk every so often on social media or texting, and I'm glad he's doing well. It's the University of Tennessee versus the University of Alabama, and I'll speak to him after the game."
Said Vols sixth-year receiver Velus Jones: "He's a ball hawk. I've never been hit by him, but I feel like I'm a pretty physical guy. I guess we'll see."
To'o To'o was not among the players Alabama made available to the media this week, but he described the Vols last month as his brothers.
"I've been to war with those guys," To'o To'o said, "and those relationships that you build aren't just going to fly away. I definitely keep in touch with my Tennessee guys."
Turnage, meanwhile, played sparingly in Tuscaloosa before transferring to Knoxville, where he hasn't received a ton of action with one notable exception. When Theo Jackson and Doneiko Slaughter were unable to play Oct. 9 against visiting South Carolina, the 6-1, 186-pound Turnage earned his first career start and racked up 14 tackles and two tackles for loss in the 45-20 win.
The Southeastern Conference named Turnage as its defensive player of the week.
"BT is like a brother to us, and he'll always be family no matter where he is," Alabama sophomore safety Malachi Moore said. "We FaceTime him pretty much every day, seeing him and his daughter, so we're still cool. We're very excited for him and the things he's doing."
Endurance 101
Tennessee was on the field for 101 defensive snaps during last Saturday's 31-26 loss to visiting Ole Miss, and Vols senior safety Theo Jackson played every single one of them.
"That definitely speaks to our conditioning in the spring, the summer and the fall," Jackson said Tuesday. "In the spring, we were going against our offense every day, so we were getting used to that speed. In the summer, it was all about conditioning, and in the fall, we were going up against our offense again. It prepared us for going up against an offense like that."
Vols secondary coach Willie Martinez described Jackson as "the most consistent player since day one."
History lesson
Whether the gauge is all-time victories or winning percentage, the top two teams through the years in Southeastern Conference play have been Alabama and Tennessee. The Crimson Tide and Vols have met every year since 1928 with the exception of 1943, when neither school fielded a program due to World War II.
Alabama sophomore quarterback Bryce Young didn't know any of this while growing up in California, but he has learned about this traditional rivalry since arriving in Tuscaloosa.
"You're around people who have been involved with it in past years," Young said. "I've definitely learned how deep-rooted it is and how much it means to us, our fan base and our alumni. It's something as a team that we don't take lightly at all."
Where is Wright?
Tennessee freshman running back Jaylen Wright has 28 carries this season for 96 yards (3.4 per carry) and two touchdowns, but he hasn't played in three of the past four games.
"He's right where he needs to be right now," Vols running backs coach Jerry Mack said. "Every day, he seems to get a little bit better. He was balancing some nicks and bruises, and he's coming along."
Challenging job
Should Tennessee right tackle Cade Mays be unable to play this week, former walk-on Dayne Davis would likely get the start. Davis played most of last Saturday's game after Mays was injured in the first quarter.
"He did some really positive things, and there were some things in protection that weren't as clean as they need to be," Vols head coach Josh Heupel said. "We adjusted some things during the course of the game, but we believe in Dayne and his preparation. If Cade can't go this week, we feel like he'll be able to play at a high level."
Davis would have his hands full should Alabama sophomore outside linebacker Will Anderson line up across from him. Anderson leads the nation with 15 sacks and last weekend became the first Crimson Tide defender with four sacks in a game since the legendary Derrick Thomas in 1988.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.