The 2022 memory of Jalen Hyatt's five touchdown catches still haunts Alabama Crimson Tide fans. Alabama lost 52-49 to the Vols, with a better quarterback in Bryce Young that season. Alabama's Defensive Coordinator, Pete Golding, received most of the blame. Still, one disturbing thought lingered. Was Josh Heupel's offense so good that Alabama's defense, called by Golding but built and maintained by Nick Saban, was incapable of stopping it?
Last season, Tennessee needed only three touchdowns to beat Alabama 24-17. Kane Wommack's defense gave up 408 yards to the Vols, but Alabama lost due to penalties, turnovers, and a stiff Tennessee defense that neutralized the Crimson Tide offense.
Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks deserved the praise he received from Vols' fans after the 2024 game. Tennessee fans concluded that Heupel's offensive schemes and Banks' defensive schemes had pushed the Vols football program past the Crimson Tide.
In the 2023 season, the Vols did not have a defensive scheme to counter Alabama. The Crimson Tide dominated the second half, scoring 24 points to beat the Vols, 34-20.
One college football expert believes Saturday night's game will be more like 2023 than 2024 for the Alabama Crimson Tide. The expert is former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray.
Alabama football fans took added notice of Murray in the lead-up to this season's Georgia game. Murray candidly admitted that, despite Kirby Smart's run of success, Georgia still had an "Alabama problem."
Murray picked the Bulldogs to edge Alabama in Athens, but he was correct that Georgia's many failures against the Crimson Tide weigh heavily on the program. Alabama football fans are counting on Murray being right again in predicting what will happen for the Tide against the Vols.
Murray predicts that Tennessee's defense will be unable to "slow" the Alabama offense because no Tennessee defensive scheme can work.
Aaron Murray on the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Tennessee
- "Unless you have four dudes up front that can create pressure and be able to play coverage on the back end, you will not be able to stop this offense. You won’t. And you can’t. I don’t care what league you’re in — the NFL, college, high school — when you face a passing attack with a quarterback that’s playing at this level and receivers that are this talented, you will not be able to slow them down unless you can win with four up front. Tennessee does not have that. So I don’t care if Tim Banks wants to bring six. I don’t care if he wants to drop eight. I don’t care if he wants to bring eight and have three guys back there. You will not be able to slow down this offensive passing attack."
The Vols will likely have some success rushing four against Ty Simpson. But, not enough to win the game.