Jumbo Package: Alabama ranked 7th headed into Tennessee week

Happy Monday, everyone. We will start out this week in proper fashion.

The Alabama vs. Tennessee rivalry began with a 6-6 tie Nov. 28, 1901. But since, the Crimson Tide has dominated the Volunteers.

Alabama has won 60 of 105 total meetings against Tennessee, including 16 of the pair’s last 17 games. This includes Alabama’s vacated win against the Volunteers in 2005.

Alabama and Tennessee have faced off in each college football season since 1928.

It’s never too early to start hating Tennessee.

The Vols were punished hard for their overtime win against Florida, dropping 5 slots in the AP poll to 11th. Alabama somehow stayed at 7th despite barely surviving South Carolina. You can bet that the Vols will notice that, but they just don’t have any great wins on the resume. You can argue that Alabama might not be one should it happen on Saturday based on the way the Tide looked the past two weeks, but Tennessee is going to be gunning hard for it at home.

As expected, folks are asking if the past two-and-a-half games are going to be our new normal. One somewhat overlooked detail stood out from Saturday:

From those three plays, DeBoer said he was confident with his offense’s tempo. He wanted to secure momentum. He wanted Alabama to make a statement after Vanderbilt had made a statement against the Crimson Tide a week previously.

“I was pretty confident they were saying to go,” DeBoer said.

And Alabama went, securing a first down on a 2-yard Milroe scramble, setting up two 30-yard connections with Germie Bernard and Cole Adams before Milroe took it himself for a 1-yard score.

Many would say that going for it in that spot was far too risky, but the real risk would have been surrendering possession of the football with only one yard to gain.

As Blake Toppmeyer notes, unfettered free agency has made it nigh impossible for anyone, including Nick Saban, to be consistently dominant.

Let’s revisit my previous point that Alabama’s heart-thumping victories didn’t begin after Nick Saban’s retirement. They began after NIL and transfer freedom kicked in before the 2021 season. Alabama, in 2021, beat Florida by two points; LSU by six points; Arkansas by seven points, and Auburn by two points; and lost to Texas A&M by three points. None of those five teams I rattled off finished better than 9-4. This win-at-the-finish act is what Alabama has become. That predates DeBoer, although losing to Vanderbilt with a coach wearing a T-shirt started with DeBoer.

I still believe that the last two weeks for Alabama are more about their own execution than anything. As I wrote on Saturday, the team that smoked Wisconsin and went up 28-0 on Georgia still exists. They just have to get back to making more of those plays.

As I mentioned on Sunday, an alternate reality exists where Domani Jackson is in the game, South Carolina turns it over on downs rather than taking advantage of a coverage bust on 4th and 9, and Alabama goes into the half with a commanding lead instead of a two point one. Avoid the big meltdown and the end would have been much less stressful. We’ll see which lessons were learned, if any, and if any depth can be found at corner.

Ryan Williams has now been featured on CNN.

“I don’t think there is a limit to what he could be. He’s got the ability and he’s got the makeup to be one of the best ever to come through the University of Alabama,” he said. “And I don’t want to put too much out there, but he’s got the chance to do some things that very few, if any, people in the game of football has been able to do.

“I can tell you what, I think Ryan wants to be the best to play. I think he wants to be the best one to come through there. And I wouldn’t bet against him.”

For Williams, though, he is just enjoying the moment.

“I think it just feels like a dream and I just keep going,” he said. “I like the dream.”

The Gamecocks were able to limit the prodigious star by playing a deep shell and getting after Milroe. Their front is nasty, as Ole Miss learned the week before. Alabama’s pass protection has held up for the most part this season. We will see if other fronts are able to replicate that performance.

In NFLnews, Najee Harris is still #good.

Najee went over 100 on the day as Pittsburgh steamrolled the Raiders. Derrick Henry scored twice more, DeVonta Smith found the end zone on his return from a concussion caused by a dirty hit from a Saint,

Last but not least, Will Anderson completely took over a game yesterday.

A 50% win rate is patently absurd. Might want to get a little help over there.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

Roll Tide.