Alabama vs Tennessee Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines
By Pete Fiutak,
8 hours ago
Which team is for real? Is the loser realistically out of the College Football Playoff chase?
Alabama has been very, very shaky, needing to hang on for deal life in the win over South Carolina after gacking away the epic loss to Vanderbilt.
It doesn’t get a whole lot easier with road games at LSU and Oklahoma coming up alone tie the doubling up of Tigers with Missouri and Auburn coming to Tuscaloosa.
Tennessee has been very, very shaky, getting past Florida in a battle wafter losing to Arkansas. Its road if far easier than Bama’s - even with a road game at Georgia - but lose here, and there’s a problem.
Oct 21, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide verses the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Alabama vs Tennessee How to Watch Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024 Game Time: 4:15 pm ET Venue: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN How to Watch: ABC Tennessee (5-1), Alabama (5-1) - Week 8 Schedule, Predictions
Why Alabama Will Win
The offense still works.
For all of the screaming, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth. The Alabama offense is still terrific.
It might be stalling a bit too much - it seemed to punch itself out in the first half of the Georgia game - and the running game isn’t being utilized enough, but this is still a high-powered attack that can score in a flash.
And yes, Jalen Milroe deserves to be in the Heisman chase. He has been terrific averaging over 11 yards per throw with 12 touchdown passes, just two picks, and with 11 rushing touchdowns in just six games.
On the flip side, the Tennessee O hit a snag.
Oh sure, it was all sunshine and rainbows against Kent State and Chattanooga, and it even ripped apart what turned out to be a blah NC State defense. But it struggled over the last three weeks with a passing game that hasn’t hit 200 yards in SEC play. The explosion has gone bye-bye. Midseason Predictions for Every Team & Game ACC | Big Ten | Big 12 | SEC | IND & Pac-12 AAC | CUSA | MAC | MWest | Sun Belt - Alabama at Tennessee Expert Picks
Why Tennessee Will Win
Yeah, something isn’t quite right with Alabama.
Again, the offense is fine. It’s not consistent, and there’s a borderline criminal negligence at times when it comes to the running game, but that’s not the issue.
All of a sudden, the Bama D can’t get off the field.
Everyone remembers the end of the Georgia game, but it’s been more of a steady drip issue than a full blown meltdown. Vanderbilt and Diego Pavia came were able to connect on 67% of their third down tries, and South Carolina hit their third down attempts at a 50% clip.
Tennessee is second in the nation in third down stops, the defense overall is second in the nation, and the plays in the backfield continue to flow.
Yeah, the D hasn’t been quite as dominant as it was over the first part of the season, but it’s still doing a great job of keeping the points off the board.
The Vols have yet to allow anyone to get to 20 points, however …
Alabama vs Tennessee: Who Will Win
The Tennessee secondary and pass defense haven’t exactly been exposed, but there’s a problem.
Taylen Green of Arkansas went off for 279 yards, and the combination of Graham Mertz and DJ Lagway cranked up 223 yards for Florida and hit the Vol D for the first multi-touchdown pass game of the year.
Alabama might be struggling, but it can still bomb away. The Tennessee offense will perk back up, but Milroe will be fantastic in a a blast of a game that won’t take a back seat to anything in the SEC, including that tussle in Austin.
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