Alabama defense pitches second-half shutout in comeback win over Vols

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Tennessee got the ball back, by way of an interception, with 3:10 left in the first half, and the Vols marched down the field to take a 20-7 lead before intermission.

But that was all the visiting team from Knoxville would be able to muster. 

“We just went out there and we just said, ‘Don’t let them score, don’t let them score,’” Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore said. “That was our mindset, and that’s what we did.”

Alabama’s defense shut out Tennessee in the second half on its way to a 34-20 win in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. The Crimson Tide limited the Vols to just 129 yards on 33 plays (3.9 yards per play) over the last two quarters of play and forced three three-and-outs, two turnovers on downs and a fumble that Jihaad Campbell scooped up for the final score.

What kind of adjustments did Alabama make at the break? Nick Saban shared those.

“In the beginning of the game, we were trying to play odd (fronts) because we were really trying to stop the run,” Saban said. “When they hit the big pass, we were in odd, kind of didn’t play the coverage exactly right for the first touchdown. But as the game went on, we started playing a little more even, started playing things that we’d played in the past and I think the players did a really good job. 

“It helped us rush the passer better. So the players just did a good job of adapting. We got a better four-man rush out of it and played more of the kind of coverages that we normally play with four men rushing rather than eight drops.”

Deontae Lawson led Alabama’s defense with 12 tackles in the win, with Campbell adding 10 tackles and the fumble recovery. Chris Braswell forced the fumble on one of his two sacks.

Alabama (7-1, 5-0 SEC) created more negative plays in the second half, generating three sacks and four tackles for loss in the final two quarters. The defensive front was especially stout on fourth down, as Tennessee tried to convert three times over the course of the game, including twice in the final 24 minutes of action, and came up short on all three instances. 

The second fourth-down stop came midway through the third quarter at the Vols’ own 47 when Campbell stopped UT running back Dylan Sampson short of the line to gain. Alabama took over in Tennessee territory and took its first lead, 24-20, on a Jase McClellan run.

“They like to get in bunch, so we had a kind of check defense to go to get in like a Gap 8 with two double edges and force spoke secondary to try to roll if they brought the ball to the perimeter,” said Saban, breaking down the play. “So the guys up front just knocked them back, and that was a huge stop in the game. 

“We had two fourth-down stops in the game that were really huge.”

Putting it in simpler terms, Campbell said, “Nick Saban always praises execution, dominating and just dominating your one-on-one matchup. That’s what I did.”

The Vols (5-2, 2-2 SEC) entered the game with the nation’s sixth-best rushing attack, averaging 230 yards per game. Alabama held Tennessee to almost 100 yards under that mark (133 on 38 carries) and limited UT’s leading rusher, Jaylen Wright, to 22 yards on 11 attempts.

Quarterback Joe Milton was the Vols’ leading rusher on Saturday, carrying the ball 15 times for 59 yards. He also threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 28-of-41 passing, but keeping the Tennessee ground game in check was “important” to the Tide’s success.

“They still hurt us at times with the quarterback runs, quarterback draws a couple times,” Saban said. “They had a couple perimeter plays with the quarterback. And he’s a good player. He’s a good player. He’s a big guy. He’s fast. He’s a very good athlete, and that creates another gap for you to have to play, which is one of the reasons we wanted to play odd so that we could play not only their runs but his runs better. 

“But we didn’t feel like we were playing coverage the way we needed and getting the rush that we needed. They gained 230 yards rushing last week. I don’t know what they gained today, but I know it wasn’t that much. So it was a pretty good job.”

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