What I Noticed in the Crimson Tide's Win Over Tennessee, James Smith Has Potential For Dominance

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The Alabama Crimson Tide knocked off the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday to remain unbeaten in SEC play and avenge last season's loss in Knoxville. The Crimson Tide leaned on a raucous home atmosphere, strong quarterback play and game-changing defensive plays to defeat the Volunteers.

The Tennessee Vols entered the game with the top scoring offense in the SEC and one of the best rushing attacks in the nation. Tennessee had only allowed four total sacks all season and quarterback Joey Aguilar was the top passer in the SEC in terms of yards. Alabama's defense stepped up, holding the Volunteers to 20 points and chasing Aguilar down for four sacks, while limiting the Orange and White on the ground.

Alabama junior defensive lineman James Smith played a big role on Saturday, accumulating a team high seven tackles and chipping in a sack to slow down the Tennessee offense in his best statistical output of the season.

"James flashes," Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said on Monday. "He's a very athletic player. He does some really good things. Needs to become more consistent. A number of our guys are the same way, I'm not necessarily singling him out, but there were some plays he particularly left out on the field, a number of our guys left out on the field, and so that's exciting from a number of ways, because he very productive on a number of plays. But there were also opportunities that we left out there on the field. Those are the things I'd like to continue to see from him and a number of guys on our defense."

James Smith made a few solid plays on Saturday against Tennessee.

Kane Wommack said he "flashed" at times. pic.twitter.com/leBJgspYRu
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 20, 2025

Flashed is the perfect word to describe Smith's performance because when he was good, he was excellent. His efforts helped stifle the Tennessee rushing attack, keeping the Volunteers to three-or-fewer yards on 13 different occasions. Smith's explosiveness and aggression got Alabama off the field on the opening drive of the game, but unfortunately he wasn't able to maintain his intensity down-in and down-out throughout the game.

Smith stayed around the football all night, with opportunities to make game-changing plays, but was just a step shy of turning in a dominant performance.

Three Examples of Plays James Smith Left on the Field

11:32 2nd Quarter - Third-and-eight - Smith breaks through the line, but loses his footing instead of bringing him down for a sack, or affecting Joey Aguilar with pressure the quarterback finds Braylon Staley for a huge gain.

10:40 2nd Quarter - Second-and-goal - Smith fights through a block on a pass play to get to the outside to chase down a scrambling Joey Aguilar. Unfortunately, Aguilar is already outside him before he can defeat the block and the athletic quarterback has a chance to score. Smith gets a hand on Aguilar's ankle but it's not enough to take him down, luckily Justin Jefferson and DaShawn Jones are in full pursuit and stop the Tennessee quarterback before he can score.

:41 2nd Quarter - Fourth-and-one - Smith gets great penetration at the line of scrimmage, but Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop runs through his tackle attempt and gets the first down.

pic.twitter.com/mvI4EwRSwq
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 20, 2025

Smith has all the potential to turn into a dominant defensive lineman, but must make plays more consistently in order to get there.

While his consistency in performance still needs growth, what is encouraging is the junior's relentless attitude. Smith is consistently one of the Alabama defenders that show he's ready for battle since the start of SEC play, setting the tone verbally week-in and week-out.

“I really, if you think big picture from a year ago to now, I love the energy," Kalen DeBoer said. "It just, there's a personality, there's a connection that I feel with him, and I feel like our relationship is really good. There's been moments, and he had one where he hit the quarterback late. And I know how much he cares, I see it. As soon as he could, he was back there talking to me, owning up to it, and knowing he messed up. And so it's just a matter of learning from that. And I feel when people do care, like he does, they'll be better because of it. So, it doesn't mean you don't have consequences that come along with the penalties, in that particular case, like we have in our program. And so he owns up to that, takes care of those consequences, and we move on.”

After watching the game over it looked like James Smith's gas tank ran low as the night wore on. pic.twitter.com/57RbCrHsfe
— Joe Gaither (@JoeGaither6) October 20, 2025

The defender's still has steps to take to become a dominant defender for the Crimson Tide. Once he plays with consistency down-in and down-out, and channels his competitive edge into making the plays that are in front of him, then Alabama will have its next alpha on the defensive front.