No. 14 Tennessee upsets No. 6 Alabama in Third Saturday in October

KNOXVILLE — In what's become a familiar attack on the senses, both cigar and firework smoke filled the atmosphere above Neyland Stadium on Saturday evening. For the third time in as many tries, Tennessee earned a home victory over Alabama in the Third Saturday in October. In this season's matchup, it was the Vols getting a 26-10 win over the Tide. The No. 14 Vols (6-1, 3-1 SEC) led by two at halftime, but dominated the final 30 minutes of play by out-scoring the Crimson Tide 14-0 and out-gaining them 104-1 on the ground. "You look at the way we were able to finish the football game," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. "A lot of big plays in the run game. A couple of key conversions throwing the football, too. Really proud of the offense. Offense finishing that way. We talked about this being a line-of-scrimmage game, boxing match mentality. Have to win with physicality for four quarters." The Volunteers defense made a stand against the No. 6 Tide (5-2, 3-2) on the opening possession of the second half. Alabama methodically marched into Tennessee territory, but were turned away on the 10th play of the drive on 4th-and-1. UT punched back with a nine-play, 60-yard drive. DeSean Bishop capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run, the first time any Vol found the checkerboards on the day. After the two sides traded punts, the Vols made a statement to put the game away. Getting the ball with 12:49 in the fourth quarter, Tennessee went 72 yards in 15 plays, eating up 9:32 of game clock. "We take a ton of pride in playing winning football at that point in the game," Heupel said. "Being able to function and operate. George (MacIntyre) did a really good job of being able to drain the clock when we were asking him to do that. Run the football the way you need to sustain a drive." Of the 15 plays, 11 were rushing attempts, including all of the final eight. Bishop capped off the grueling possession with a five-yard touchdown, his second of the day. The Knoxville native was a bellcow for Tennessee, going for 159 rushing yards on 32 carries. "Bishop was elite," Heupel said. "At halftime, I said, 'This is going to be a big second half.' He had a big smile on his face, gleam in his eye. He certainly did that tonight." The Vols defense put the final nail in the coffin with under a minute to go, as Kayin Lee picked off a pass in the end zone to end Alabama's last gasp. It was a superb effort for the Tennessee defense, as the group allowed just 201 yards of total offense, made five sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and held the Crimson Tide to just 2-of-13 on third down. "Defense – suffocating, elite performance," Heupel said. Really proud of those guys. They handled adversity, sudden change extremely well. Great performance by them." Following a field goal on their opening possession, the Vols were set up in the red zone to add on early in the game. Jeremiah Telander came up with a strip sack that was recovered by Tyree Weathersby at the 19-yard line. However, Tennessee went three-and-out and had to settle for another field goal. Cooper Ranvier added a third in the first quarter before Dejuan Lane picked off Keelon Russell at the Alabama 43-yard line. However, after a reverse that got blown up the Vols had to punt again. The Crimson Tide finally got on the board after a Russell rushing touchdown took advantage of a MacIntyre interception off the hands of Radarious Jackson, making it 9-7 early in the second quarter. Despite answering with a 12-play drive into the red zone, Tennessee had to once again settle for three points instead of a touchdown. Alabama eventually got the three points back just before halftime. "You just couldn't come up empty-handed in those (first half) situations," Heupel said. "Coop(er Ranvier) did an unbelievable job. Probably about as windy of a day as we've had in that stadium since I've been here. Put everything right through the uprights. That was a huge part of the game early." It was the first home start in the career of MacIntyre, a sophomore from Franklin, Tennessee. MacIntyre went 21-of-31 for 197 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. "Played winning football," Heupel said. "The ups-and-downs in a game like this. I thought he was decisive, going to the right spots on the football field. Had some adversity, tipped pick. Super consistent. Same demeanor." Up Next The Vols will hit the road next Saturday to take on South Carolina. Alabama will play host to Texas A&M. No. 14 TENNESSEE 26, No. 6 ALABAMA 10 ALA 0 10 0 0 — 10 TENN 9 3 7 7 — 26 First Quarter TENN — Cooper Ranvier 29-field goal, 10:05 TENN — Ranvier 33-field goal, 8:59 TENN — Ranvier 41-field goal, 4:32 Second Quarter ALA — Keelon Russell 19-rush (Conor Talty kick), 10:13 TENN — Ranvier 34-field goal, 5:19 ALA — Talty 42-field goal, 0:05 Third Quarter TENN — DeSean Bishop 5-rush (Ranvier kick), 5:05 Fourth Quarter TENN — Bishop 5-rush (Ranvier kick), 3:17