The No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide beat the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers 37-20 on Saturday, dismantling the Volunteers from start to finish.
The ranked victory was Alabama’s fourth in a row, and there were a few major changes from the week prior, when the Crimson Tide defeated then-No. 14 Missouri in Columbia.
The ground game
Alabama’s rush attack saw major changes on Saturday. The leading rusher for the Crimson Tide wasn’t even a running back, and the run was almost completely abandoned in the first half.
Through the first half of the game, Alabama had only recorded 11 rush attempts for just 26 yards. However, by the end of the game, the Crimson Tide finished with 32 attempts for 120 yards.
Of those rushing yards, 49 can be attributed to wide receiver Germie Bernard, who has only recorded multiple rush attempts in one other game.
Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb schemed up plenty of reverses and plays that worked in favor of Bernard, which allowed him to be such a factor in the rush attack.
Bernard wasn’t the only receiver to get in on the action, though. Ryan Williams, who didn’t record a touch last week, recorded one rush for 16 yards.
Together, the receivers made up over half of Alabama’s rushing yards with 64.
As for the running backs, sophomore Daniel Hill was the leading rusher with seven attempts for 34 yards and a touchdown.
“Daniel I think had the hot hand in the second half for sure,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It was really great to see him do his thing. I felt very confident about him.”
Starting running back Jam Miller is usually the leading rusher and was still able to contribute, acquiring 12 carries and a touchdown.
Ryan Williams
Last week, ahead of the game against Missouri, Williams found himself on the player availability report listed as probable, signaling that he was dealing with an unknown injury.
The issue didn’t linger long, though, as he appeared in the game. However, he did not get the start, and he was only targeted once and was unable to make the catch.
When he took the field against Tennessee on the Third Saturday in October, he seemed like he was back to normal, finishing the game as the Crimson Tide’s leading receiver.
After not recording a single reception, he managed to haul in five catches on five targets for 87, making 103 all-purpose yards for the sophomore receiver against the Vols.
He had dealt with injuries and had dropped several passes, notably one that would have been a touchdown against Georgia.
Williams spoke about what led to the bounce-back performance after the win.
“Really just trying to be there as much as I could for my team,” Williams said. “Really just attacking it in the training room, just like you do in the weight room or on the field.”
Defense
Although the offense put up 37 points, the defense may have been the star of the show on Saturday night, considering the 9 points it put up and the 20 it held Tennessee to.
Coming into the game, the Vols had one of the best offenses in the country and was ranked No. 1 in the SEC in average yards per game and total yards this season.
The Alabama defense last week struggled to get pressure on Missouri quarterback Beau Pribula. Against Tennessee, the defense hampered the Vols’ offense, having accounted for 9 total points, four sacks, eight tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and an interception.
The two stars on defense were cornerback Zabien Brown and defensive end Yhonzae Pierre.
Before the game, Pierre had just one career sack; he finished the game with three more. He was a force to be reckoned with and pressured the Vols’ quarterback all night.
Pierre also made a big play when Tennessee was backed up on its own goal line. He forced a Tennessee safety when he pressured Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar, who then discarded the ball and was cited for intentional grounding.
“It feels good being able to put points up on the defensive side,” Pierre said. “It’s what we’ve been needing. Offense did what they supposed to do, and we just capitalized off of that.”
Brown, who hadn’t recorded an interception yet this season, found his way in front of a ball intended for Tennessee tight end Miles Kitselman in the end zone, which he returned all the way back for a 99-yard pick-six to put Alabama up 23-7 before halftime.
The two accounted for 9 points on the defensive side of the ball, which is also the first time this season that the defense has accounted for any points.
“It feels great to go out there and perform at a high level,” Brown said. “We still got a lot of things to clean, especially in the second half, but that’s what we’re going to focus on next week, and watching film tomorrow.”
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