No, Tennessee does not pipe in fake crowd noise at Neyland Stadium
Chris Stewart was apparently so impressed with the noise level at Neyland Stadium on Saturday that the Alabama radio play-by-play broadcaster thought it was fake, claiming Tennessee was piping in crowd noise on top of the capacity crowd of 101,915.
“Second-and-16 is not what you’re looking for,” Stewart said during the Crimson Tide Sports Network broadcast of Tennessee’s 24-17 win over Alabama, “especially with the noise level being what it is here.
“You’ve got 100,000-plus and they also pipe in crowd noise as well.”
A Tennessee spokesperson on Monday confirmed that is not the case. The only noise coming through the speakers during a home football game is music between plays or the public address announcer.
“That stadium, when it is rocking, is better than any other environment in the country,” Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln said Monday during an appearance at the Knoxville Quarterback Club. “It truly is an impact on our game.
“We got people down, I guess, down in Alabama calling in and saying we’re pumping crowd noise in there. I am telling you, it is not. I have been places where they do pump in the crowd noise. It is 100% legit in that building.”
“They also pipe in crowd noise, as well.”
— Rob Harvey (@RobMHarvey) October 21, 2024
Suuuuurrrreeeeee. pic.twitter.com/c6pyTistyP
Nico Iamaleava threw the go-ahead touchdown to Chris Brazzell on a 16-yard slot fade to the back of the end zone with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, lifting Tennessee to the 24-17 win over Alabama, giving the Vols back-to-back home wins over the Crimson Tide.
Alabama led 7-0 at halftime, with Tennessee scoreless at the break for a third straight game, but the Vols rallied in the second half behind two touchdown runs from Dylan Sampson.
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Tennessee ran for 220 yards and the two Sampson touchdowns on 41 attempts as a team. Iamaleava finished 14-for-27 for 194 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He ran nine times for 44 yards. Bru McCoy caught six passes for 80 yards and Dont’e Thornton caught three passes for 70 yards, including a 55-yarder in the third quarter.
Defensively Tennessee held Alabama to 314 total yards, with just 75 rush yards on 34 attempts.
Jalen Milroe completed 25 of 45 passes for 239 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Tennessee safety Will Brooks picked him off on Alabama’s final possession to seal the win.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: ‘It was a great crowd that we just played in front of’
Tennessee has had an elite home-field advantage at Neyland Stadium during the Josh Heupel era. The Vols have won 17 of their last 18 home games and are 22-4 at home under Heupel dating back to the 2021 season.
After the game Milroe was more complimentary than accusatory toward the Neyland crowd.
“We do got to acknowledge that it was a great crowd that we just played in front of,” Milroe said. “One of the greatest crowds in the country. So it’s on us to control our controllables, understand our assignment, understand our snap count and understand what we need to do so that we can move forward when playing games like this.
“… Now we can reflect, now we can understand what it takes to win games like this and understand what we need to improve on. So, I thought today was very important for us.”
