The Result May Have Been the Same, but the Intensity of the Third Saturday in October Was Back

Alabama's 35-13 victory had a lot of key elements of a true rivalry win against Tennessee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — It felt like a rock concert.

It resembled one too, although linebacker Terrell Lewis said it reminded him more like something out of a movie.

With Bryant-Denny Stadium showing off its new LED lights, which were as good as advertised, fans here were treated to the next big thing in college football on Saturday night. Alabama has just begun to try and make the game experience unlike anything anyone has ever seen before, and as a result no one seemed to leave early or have much to grumble about except the officiating.

What they were reminded of, though, was that the best thing college football still has to offer is a strong rivalry. Few can match this one.

Despite the impressive setting, this was a true Third Saturday in October game – perhaps the likes of which we haven’t seen in a while.

The outcome may have still been the same, as Alabama defeated Tennessee 35-13 for its 13 straight victory in the series, yet the intensity that the Crimson Tide vs. the Volunteers used to have been known for was evident.

“I need a cigar,” junior tight end Miller Forristall yelled while walking off the field as a haze started to engulf Bryant-Denny Stadium. A lot of his teammates were smiling as well, even the ones limping back to the locker room.

Just how intense was this game?

Both starting quarterbacks were knocked out with injuries.

A Tennessee linebacker was ejected for lowering his head on the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner who was already down at the 1-yard line.

Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt went off on the officials and grabbed his backup quarterback by the facemask.

Yeah, it was that intense.

T.G. Paschal/BamaCentral

“I thought our guys grinded it out and competed,” Nick Saban said with what was left of his voice. “It was a tough game.”

Tough and rough, as in roll up your sleeves and don’t stop pounding until the clock runs out.

That hadn’t necessarily been Alabama’s M.O. of late, especially during the first half of this season,

The first real sign that this might go that way occurred before the Crimson Tide punched in the first of three rushing touchdowns, and before starting running back Najee Harris lined up on the coverage team on the opening kickoff.

It was when Chris Owens came out for warmups. The junior who had been Alabama’s center in four of the first six games, was wearing No. 84 instead of his usual No. 79. It meant that like Kendall Randolph, another 300-pounds lineman who was sporting No. 85, Owens was eligible to line up as a tight end.

He often did so, bringing yet another element of toughness to the Crimson Tide rushing attack after inserting Deione Brown back into the lineup and moving Landon Dickerson to center next to massive freshman left guard Evan Neal.

“We put our big-boy pants on,” junior left tackle Alex Leatherwood said.

Alabama’s defense also played pretty tough, too. Lewis had two more sacks, Tennessee averaged just 3,1 yards per attempt and as whole the unit was physical. Defensive lineman Byron Young made his first career start, giving the Crimson Tide four true freshmen in the defensive front seven, and they continued to make strides.

“I think the defense played a lot better, except for one situation in the game, which was third down,” Saban said. “We had too many opportunities to get off the field on third down.”

The offense also had a huge gaffe as well with a pass picking off in the end zone and returned to midfield, eventually leading to a touchdown.

Say what you will about the Volunteers, who slipped to 2-5, they played hard.

At its core, that’s what this rivalry is about.

It’s about things like Alabama’s first All-American Bully Van de Graaff cut his ear so badly against Tennessee that he tried to pull off so he wouldn’t have to come out of the game. Paul W. “Bear” Bryant famously playing with a broken bone in his left leg. Gen. Robert Neyland saying, “You never know what a football player is made of until he plays Alabama.”

But it’s also about big plays and surprise contributors. Wide receiver Slade Bolden throwing a touchdown pass out of the wildcat formation definitely applies, as does walk-on punter Ty Perine, who in his debut not only boomed the ball 51 yards but also made a nice open-field tackle.

Perhaps fittingly, the decisive play completed a goal-line stand in which a quarterback sneak resulted in a fumble caused by freshman linebacker Shane Lee, with the ball squirting right into the hands of cornerback Trevon Diggs.

Instead of the Vols possibly making it a one-score game, the cornerback’s 100-plus yard touchdown return wasn’t just a momentum change but signaled game over.

"It wasn't deflating,” Pruitt said. “It pissed me off.”

That’s part of the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry as well.

Moving forward, there will be a lot of questions, especially about  junior quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and with good reason. The Heisman Trophy contender suffered a high-ankle sprain and the Alabama offense went from moving the ball almost at will to having timing issues and dropped balls.

Consequently, there will be a lot of uncertainty heading into next week’s home game against Arkansas, and how effective can reserve quarterback Mac Jones be after a week of running the first-team offense. 

But none of that was going to stop Alabama and its fans from enjoying this one.

It wasn’t just a win, but a Third Saturday in October win.

“Man, I’m dizzy as hell up here,” Lewis said in the media interview room after smoking his victory cigar. “It was good though. A lot of pictures. The locker room is still smoked out.

“[Do] I still sound like Mike Tyson when I’m smoking?”

Yes Terrell, you do.