Alabama Football: A wild night in T-Town did not go as expected

Alabama football handled Tennessee Saturday night in a game that did not go as expected, including an injury to Tua Tagovailoa.

The new lighting the Alabama football program introduced Saturday created an almost eerie scene in Bryant-Denny. Can Alabama football fans blame what happened in the game on some spell coming from the new lights? Or was Tua Tagovailoa going down to injury just more bad luck for the injury-plagued Crimson Tide?

The answers do not matter. All that matters is when Tua will be healthy again. After the game, Nick Saban speculated Tua would be back in a week or two. But Nick also said the injury is a high ankle sprain. Such injuries can hobble players for several weeks and certainly long enough to impact the LSU game.

Mac Jones is no Tua. Though a little shaky at times, Jones did okay replacing the Crimson Tide superstar. Jones connected on six of 11 passes, for 72 yards. Tua was 11-of-12, for 155 yards and no touchdowns. Tua’s one miss was on a pass he should have thrown away. Instead, he threw it straight at Tennessee safety, Nigel Ward. Ward returned the interception 59 yards, setting up the Vols for their only touchdown of the game.

Najee Harris was the big offensive weapon for the Crimson Tide, rushing for 105 yards on 21 carries. Harris also caught four passes for 48 yards. The lone Alabama football passing touchdown in the game was a six-yarder, thrown by Slade Bolden from the Tide’s wildcat formation.

True freshman, inside linebacker, Christian Harris led the Crimson Tide with eight tackles. Terrell Lewis and Anfernee Jennings had seven tackles each. Lewis had three tackles-for-a-loss and two sacks.

The Crimson Tide pass rush showed improvement as it had against Texas A&M. The rush defense made some big short-yardage stops, including a fourth-down, stonewall stop of the Vols at the goal line. Vols QB Jarrett Guarantano fumbled the football after the Tide defense refused to surrender an inch. Trevon Diggs scooped up the loose ball and returned the fumble 100 yards for a touchdown.

The most troubling Alabama football defensive stat was the yards ceded to Vols’ running backs, Tim Jordan and Ty Chandler. The pair rushed for 117 yards at 5.6 yards-per-carry average.

One especially exciting development for the Alabama Crimson Tide was walk-on punter, Ty Perine. Perine punted twice for a 46.5 yard average. He also added a tackle after his second punt. Will Reichard started the game as the Tide’s punter. Reichard punted once and appeared to re-aggravate his hip flexor injury. Joseph Bulovas handled all the placekicking. Bulovas missed a 41-yard field goal.

Mac Jones should be an adequate replacement for Tua against Arkansas. That can’t be said for the LSU game, two weeks later.