Game Preview: No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers
By Matt Melton
Game Preview: No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide vs Tennessee Volunteers
When: Saturday, October 23 at 7:00 pm ET on ESPN
Location: Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL
It’s officially time for “The Third Saturday in October” as the Alabama Crimson Tide welcome the Tennessee Volunteers to town for their annual rivalry matchup between the two SEC foes, a rivalry that dates back to 1901.
Alabama enters this Week 8 showdown coming off an impressive 49-9 win at Mississippi State a week ago. The Crimson Tide out-gained the Bulldogs 543-299 in total yardage, while also having a dominant defensive showing forcing three Mississippi State turnovers and collecting seven sacks.
The Crimson Tide are ranked as the No. 4 team in the country according to the AP Poll holding a 6-1 record on the season. This will be Alabama’s first game at home since October 2, where the Crimson Tide hold a 3-0 record this season.
Tennessee is coming off a 31-26 loss at home to Ole Miss a week ago, a game in which the Volunteers came close to winning as time expired. The Volunteers offense was one of the main stories against the Rebels during the contest as they gained 467 total yards which included averaging an impressive 8.4 yards per pass.
While unranked, Tennessee sports a 4-3 record on the season with their three losses coming to Pittsburgh, Florida, and Ole Miss. The Volunteers are in year one under new head coach Josh Heupel, and sport an impressive offense averaging 39.3 PPG.