Joel Klatt names Tennessee football's toughest game remaining this season

With the Tennessee Vols lingering as a potential College Football Playoff entrant, Joel Klatt identified the Vols' toughest remaining battle on his podcast. In a move that wouldn't surprise Tennessee fans who remember the Vols' recent 15-game losing streak in the series, Klatt picked a familiar foe as the toughest battle-- Alabama.

Klatt's Tennessee take

Beware, right now, the Vols lurking. Their only loss is that overtime loss to Georgia. They played well enough to win that game.... Josh Heupel has done an incredible job. Joey Aguilar has been a great fit for them. Love their wide receivers on the outside.... Their toughest remaining [game] would be this game at Alabama, who is now a top 10 team.... Can they get to 10-2? If they were able to beat Alabama in that game, that would go a long way. And then Alabama will either really solidify their spot as a favorite in the SEC or they're going to be right on the bubble after that game.
Joel Klatt

Alabama/Tennessee

The Third Saturday in October had not been kind to Tennessee fans with a losing streak from 2007 to 2021. But Tennessee, under Heupel, has won the last two games in the series in Knoxville, triumphing 52-49 in 2022 and then 24-17 last season. Tennessee's last win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa came in 2003, in a five-overtime 51-43 shootout.

The Vols' 51 points per game leads the nation in scoring offense. Tennessee is sixth nationally in yardage at 536.4 yards per game. The Vols' 337.2 passing yards per game is fourth nationally. Defensively, Tennessee allows 29 points per game, which is 15th in the SEC. But the Vols are trading big plays for great numbers, racking up 21 sacks so far, which ties for tops in the conference.

Alabama has steadily improved since a 31-17 loss to Florida State in Week 1. QB Ty Simpson leads the SEC in QB rating, completing over 70% of his passes for 1,478 yards and 13 touchdowns against a single interception in 158 pass attempts. Alabama's ground game has lagged with just 126.8 yards per game and just under 3.9 yards per carry. But a 136 yard rushing game against Vanderbilt for Jam Miller could be a sign of improvement there.

This week, Tennessee hosts an Arkansas team that fired coach Sam Pittman already after a 2-3 start. But the Tide, who are themselves facing Missouri, lurk in the next week in a game that Klatt is calling one of the nation's best.