Following its first defeat of the 2026 season, the No. 6 Alabama Crimson Tide will look to respond this Saturday when it travels to Knoxville to take on the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers.
Looking back on the matchups of the rivalry
Tennessee and Alabama first played football against one another on Nov. 28, 1901, in a 6-6 tie in Birmingham, and the two have played every single year since 1928.
The rivalry itself can be looked at as a rivalry of streaks, especially since Bear Bryant took over at Alabama in 1958. The Crimson Tide defeated the Volunteers four straight times from 1961-64 before a 7-7 tie in 1965 ended the winning streak.
The Volunteers then went on a four-game winning streak of their own from 1967-1970, which was then followed by an eleven-game win streak by the Crimson Tide from 1971-1981. To no surprise, this was followed by a four-game winning streak by Tennessee from 1982-1985, while a seven-game Alabama win streak followed from 1986-1992.
From 1995-2006, Tennessee beat Alabama in ten out of 12 matchups, with half of these losses coming by double digits. This time period also saw Tennessee win seven straight over Alabama from 1995-2001 and its first and only national championship in 1998, as well as Alabama going through six different coaches.
Then came Nick Saban, and from the years of 2007-2021, Alabama defeated Tennessee 15 times in a row, the thirteenth time being by double digits. The Crimson Tide outscored the Volunteers 589-201 in this span.
In 2022, No. 3 Alabama traveled to Knoxville to take on No. 6 Tennessee, a team that was averaging 39 points per game under star quarterback Hendon Hooker. Due to the rivalry being extremely lopsided up to this point, Josh Pate said at the time that many younger people did not understand the significance of the rivalry.
“Go ask peepaw to explain his feelings to you, because he’s lived through this being the biggest rivalry in the SEC,” Pate said.
The Volunteers took down Alabama 52-49 after a game-winning 40-yard field goal from Chase McGrath barely fluttered over the uprights, giving Tennessee its first win over Alabama since 2006. Tennessee fans celebrated the win by rushing the field, taking down the goalposts and throwing them into the Tennessee River.
This game served as a reminder of how impactful the rivalry can be. Following this matchup, the Crimson Tide defeated the Volunteers in 2023 and 2025 in Bryant-Denny, while Tennessee claimed a victory in the 2024 matchup in Knoxville.
Needless to say, the Third Saturday in October is alive and well in 2026. Alabama fans are desperate to see an Alabama win in Knoxville, something that has not been done since 2020, while Tennessee fans hope to upset Alabama as 8.5-point underdogs despite the quarterback concerns.
Looking ahead to this year’s matchup
No matter how disappointed fans, players, and coaches are about the outcome of Saturday’s 20-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, a game that featured very questionable officiating to say the least, Alabama has to move on and not let it impact any future matchups.
“I’ve told the team that you can’t let Georgia beat us twice,” said head coach Kalen DeBoer on Monday. “You can’t be feeling sorry for yourself or anything like that.”
The matchup against the Bulldogs was the first game all season in which the Crimson Tide offense was kept under 45 points. The Crimson Tide will now take on a Tennessee defense that has only allowed 293.7 yards per game and 15.5 points per game; however, the best offense the Volunteers have played this year, in terms of yards per game, is Auburn with 399.8, which is 67th in FBS.
Alabama comes into this game averaging 44.2 points per game and 452.5 yards per game, so it will be intriguing to see how Tennessee’s defense compares with Alabama’s offense.
Tennessee heads into this matchup with a 5-1 record, with a 20-17 loss to then top-ranked Texas being the only blemish for the Volunteers. However, through three SEC games, Tennessee has had several offensive struggles and faces a difficult situation at quarterback.
After averaging 194 yards per game through the air in wins over Furman, Georgia Tech, and Kennesaw State to open the season, true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon suffered a right shoulder injury in the second half in the loss against Texas. Brandon did return to the game on the next Tennessee drive and was able to finish the game 17 for 29 through the air with 145 passing yards and one touchdown.
However, in the following week against Auburn, Brandon was benched after starting the game 3-for-8 with no yards through the air. Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre played the rest of the game for the Volunteers, completing 8 of his 10 passes for 86 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions.
Running back DeSean Bishop’s 220 yards on 34 carries led the way in Tennessee’s 24-14 victory. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel mentioned at his Monday press conference that the decision to bench Brandon was because his injury was “affecting his game.” MacIntyre played the entire game against the Arkansas Razorbacks this past Saturday, ending the game 18-for-29 with 247 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the Volunteers’ 24-17 victory.
When asked whether Brandon or MacIntyre would start for the Volunteers on Saturday, Heupel said that Tennessee would find out throughout the week.
If Alabama fans ever need reminders of how to feel about the Volunteers, they can always remember what Irvin Carney said in a 2007 interview.
“They lowdown, they dirty, and they some snitches.”
Alabama and Tennessee will kick off in Knoxville on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on ABC.
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