Why this Tennessee win over Alabama may be more important than the 2022 edition

If you could transport yourself back to a past college football game you didn’t attend to experience the electricity in the air, Tennessee’s 52-49 win over Alabama in 2022 should probably be on the short list. 

The game had everything. It took place in one of college football’s most iconic stadiums where decibel records had to have either been set or challenged. There was high-flying offense, the greatest coach of all time on the ropes, a program desperate to prove it’s worthy and a last-second, game-winning field goal that sent the passionate crowd — no, the whole state — into delirium. The party afterward may have been even better than the game, a banger where the Neyland Stadium goalposts ended up in the Tennessee River.

Two years later, in that same stadium between the same two teams, Tennessee did it again. The Volunteers knocked off Alabama on Saturday, 24-17, after scoring no points in the first half. It did it in a hard-fought, defensive battle and out-toughed a dynasty program with a young quarterback.

You could make the case this one was more important than the one in 2022.

That’s not to take away from the 2022 win. It came early in coach Josh Heupel‘s tenure and it was the type of program statement that proved the Volunteers were on their way back, that they no longer were going to be a doormat in the SEC. It was proof that Heupel was the right hire, the right man to lead the restoration of the Tennessee program. You can’t put a price on a signature victory.

But in that season, though very good, Tennessee still didn’t have the roster necessary to be a legitimate national title contender. Three weeks later, that Volunteers team went to Georgia and got out-classed physically in a 27-13 loss. Two weeks after that, it gave up 63 points to South Carolina.

But this win? It came against a weaker Alabama opponent, but this Tennessee victory came during a season in which the Volunteers could legitimately beat anyone. This isn’t the same sport it was two years ago, where (we don’t think) there are any unbeatable monsters like that 2022 Georgia team that went undefeated and won the national title.

Ask yourself this question: which team in the sport this year would Tennessee have a zero percent chance of beating? There isn’t one.

This is the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff field, and this win put the one-loss Volunteers firmly into the picture. Even if Tennessee winds up losing to Georgia later this year, it could still be 10-2 and in the Playoff. That team, if hot at the right time, could make a run the 2022 team couldn’t have made in 100 simulations.

This year, even though Neyland Stadium probably didn’t get as emotional as it did in 2022 years ago watching its Volunteers knock off big, bad Alabama, the ceiling is higher. The goalposts came down again this year, but for different reasons.

There are things that worry you. First, that young quarterback — Nico Iamaleava — may have an accuracy problem. Tennessee receivers got behind Alabama’s secondary at least five times in that game, and the young quarterback overthrew them. That’s not to say it’s not a fixable issue, but it has been an uncomfortable trend for much of the past month, which is why this was the third consecutive week the Volunteers failed to score in the first half.

Iamaleava didn’t pout or doubt himself. He didn’t shrink or get worse. No, he got stronger as the game went on. Even while he was on the run, he got more accurate. Eventually, he delivered the perfect pass to Chris Brazzell II for a 16-yard touchdown with 5:52 remaining in the game. That wound up being the game-winning score. Iamaleava finished the game with 194 yards passing and 44 yards rushing.

Iamaleava is young. Tennessee looked so good in the early part of the season that we forgot he may go through growing pains. He went through them against Alabama, and Tennessee still won. When in the past would that have happened?

Now, you have to feel even better about its young quarterback heading down the stretch of the season, right? If that was a bad game for Iamaleava, what does a great one look like?

The general reaction to this win may just be “Alabama sucks.” People love to dismiss wins directly after they happen by insulting the team that lost. But are we at the point where beating Alabama in a game in which Tennessee didn’t play at that well means nothing? Are you really going to say, “oh, well, both teams suck” and move on?

If you want to do that, go ahead. I’m not going to join you. This Tennessee team is really good. I thought that during the first month of the season and I’m even more confident in thinking that now.

Tennessee also happens to have one of the best running backs in the country in Dylan Sampson, the potential No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft in defensive end James Pearce Jr. and an overall roster that is more talented than the one two years ago. If Iamaleava continues to grow and this team gets hot, the Volunteers truly could go on a run.

Tennessee has a lot to prove before it’s considered a national championship favorite. If you can lose to Arkansas, you’re susceptible to being beaten by anyone else in the SEC. But if you look at Tennessee’s schedule, you’ll find a pretty direct route to the College Football Playoff.

Could Tennessee make a run?

Sure it could.

That wasn’t true two years ago.