No. 6 Alabama defeated No. 11 Auburn 37-20 at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium on the ‘Third Saturday in October’, avenging last season’s crushing defeat in Knoxville.
“It’s definitely a blessing,” wide receiver Ryan Willams said. “It was just super exciting to get the victory and get my first win on the third weekend in October.”
The victory cemented the Crimson Tide’s fourth straight win over a ranked opponent, a feat that has never been accomplished by an SEC team.
Alabama won the coin toss and deferred possession to the second half, opting to send Tennessee’s high-powered offense onto the field to start the game. The Vols, with the roar of the crowd at full throat to their backs, were quickly shut down and forced to punt.
“I appreciate the support we had tonight,” head coach Kalen DeBoer said. “Just loud and great energy.”
The Crimson Tide took over from its nine yard line and strung together what had to be a dream opening script to get on board first.
It started with a third down converting completion from quarterback Ty Simpson to tight end Josh Cuevas in which Simpson was nearly sacked in his own endzone. A few plays later, he connected on a 31-yard deep shot to Willams to Alabama in scoring position. Wide receiver Isaiah capped the drive off with a touchdown reception to give his team a 7-0 lead with 6:51 left in the first quarter.
Tennessee got the ball back and looked poised to score, reaching the Alabama 45. Any hopes were promptly dashed by one Yhonzae Pierre. The redshirt sophomore linebacker brought down Volunteer QB Joey Aguilar on third down, forcing a Tennessee punt.
The Crimson Tide took over with 1:45 to go in the first quarter but were forced to punt from its own end with 14 minutes left in the second quarter after not getting anything going offensively.
The Vols took advantage of the lull, cashing in on a 78-yard drive and tying the game at 7. The score came from receiver Braylon Staley, who hauled in a two-yard touchdown in the back of the endzone, directly in front of the Alabama student section with 9:46 left in the half.
Deja vu struck for the Crimson Tide as the offense once again stalled in its own territory. Punter Blake Doud’s 49-yard boot sent Tennessee down to its 18 for the ensuing possession.
Alabama’s defense decided it would take scoring matters into its own hands. Pierre got after Aguilar once again. This time, in the endzone, he forced an intentional grounding penalty, and consequently, a safety to give the Crimson Tide a 9-7 lead with 7:21 left in the half.
“We just played team ball,” Pierre said. “Everybody did their job. We contained the passer, we got after it today.”
The score seemed to jolt the team’s offense from its slumber, as it found the endzone on the ensuing drive. The points came from a flashy pitch to the left to running back Jam Miller, who toted the rock to paydirt to give Alabama a 16-7 lead with 4:05 left in the half.
Tennessee once again looked poised to put points on the board with possession on the Crimson Tide 1-yard line with nine seconds left in the half. Rather than cutting the deficit to one score, the Vols jogged into the locker room in disbelief, down 23-7 in an instant.
This was thanks to cornerback Zabien Brown. The true sophomore intercepted Aguilar at the goal line and high-tailed it to the North Endzone to put an exclamation point on the half.
The Volunteers didn’t let the negative momentum shift stifle them though. Tennessee came out of the locker room hot, forcing an Alabama three and out and then scoring to make the score 23-13 with 11:18 left in the third. The score came from running back DeSean Bishop who gashed the Crimson Tide defense to the tune of a 44-yard touchdown run.
The momentum pendulum continued to swing back towards the Vols as they forced a controversial fumble at midfield to regain possession down 10. No damage was done on the scoreboard however, as Tennessee punted just a few plays later.
Alabama faced some adversity going into its next possession, as it had to start from the shadow of its own goalpost at its own 1-yard line. This proved to be no issue for the Crimson Tide as it found its way to the endzone via an 11-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Rico Scott.
Scott and company made the 99-yard scoring drive look easy, executing play after play en route to chewing up 5:26 of clock near the end of the quarter.
“I expected nothing less,” Simpson said. “We go through that scenario all the time.”
A desperate Tennessee drove down to the red zone after converting on a fourth down in its own territory. The Vols followed this up by pounding in a one-yard touchdown run from Bishop to make the score 30-20.
With a 10-point lead, Alabama looked to salt away as much clock as it could. The Crimson Tide worked this to perfection, driving for a 10-play, 75-yard drive to put the game out of reach at 37-20 with just over five minutes left in the game.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” DeBoer said. “Another gutty win against a very good team.”
The Crimson Tide will return to action Saturday on the road versus South Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be streamed on ABC.
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