CRIMSON TIDE FIRST AND TEN: A look back at Alabama's win against Tennessee

If the University of Alabama’s previous four meetings with Tennessee had taught us anything, a team that could find a way to score four times on the “Third Saturday in October” was something unusual.

Last year, Tennessee won 16-13. The year before, Alabama pulled out a dramatic 6-3 victory. In 2004, the Volunteers won 17-13, and the season before the teams were tied at 17 at the end of regulation (before Tennessee eventually won in the fifth overtime, 51-43).

So, when Alabama began Saturday’s game with an onside lick and then scored four times in the first half, it was truly new territory, along with the Crimson Tide beating Tennessee for the first time with both John Chavis and David Cutcliffe as coordinators.

A number of players, like senior end Keith Saunders, did well, but here are 10 things that really stuck out about Alabama’s 41-17 victory:

1. DJ Hall

The senior wide receiver was all but unstoppable against Tennessee’s soft man coverage, even though he had only one reception in the fourth quarter. Junior quarterback John Parker Wilson looked his direction 18 times, completing 13 with two balls thrown away, and that doesn’t include the two-point conversion. That’s a completion percentage of 81 percent. Subtract the other three balls Wilson threw away and his completion percentage to everyone else was 76 percent, which is still amazingly good (and includes two drops). Alabama really didn’t single anyone out in the young secondary, which featured a sophomore and two freshmen. The Vols’ primary concern appeared to be the deep ball, which was probably justified by Hall’s 42-yard catch early in the game to help set up the first touchdown. In a very strange statistic, Alabama receivers had 66 yards after the catch in each half.

2. The onside kick

One reason why the onside kick might have caught Tennessee off-guard was because other than senior kicker Jamie Christensen, who the Volunteers remember from his game-winning field goal two years ago, there really wasn’t anyone new on the unit. Alabama lined up Roy Upchurch, Justin Woodall, Kareem Jackson and Jimmy Johns wide to Christensen’s right, outside of senior linebacker Damarcus Waldrop. All had been on kickoff coverage this season, so nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The kick was designed to go to Jackson, who was already on the ground when the ball bounced by, but trailing on the play Waldrop was in the right place to make the recovery.

3. Fourth-and-one

Twice Alabama used an unusual formation and shift to get a first down on fourth-and-1. The first came at the Tennessee 19, and resulted in an offside penalty by Tennessee. Four plays (and a roughing-the-passer penalty) later, redshirt freshman Terry Grant scored the first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass. The Tide went back to the formation during its 16-play drive at the end of the half, at the UT 24. This time, the Vols didn’t flinch on the shift, which lined up two tight ends and sophomore fullback Baron Huber all around sophomore left tackle Andre Smith – with Hall alone on the other side of the line. Not surprisingly, Grant plunged through for the first down, and Alabama again reached the end zone six plays later.

4. John Parker Wilson

One area of his game that Wilson doesn’t get enough credit for is his ability to take off and run for a first down, or create a defensive breakdown. A perfect example was the first play of the fourth quarter when on third-and-4 he didn’t have anyone open and rolled to his left to buy some time. With his defender hesitating just enough, junior Nikita Stover was able to get enough space to make a 19-yard sideline reception. Even though he had a fumble, which he quickly recovered, Wilson ended up with 28 rushing yards. Oh, he also had a career-high 363 passing yards. Statistically, he was 8-of-13 on third downs, with one drop and two thrown away. In the red zone, Wilson was 6-for-8 with three touchdowns, by far his best numbers of the year.

5. The replacements

Although offensive linemen B.J. Stabler, Evan Cardwell and Mike Johnson had all started games before, the makeshift unit had to be a concern for the coaching staff, especially without the line’s leader, Antoine Caldwell (suspended). It may have also contributed to the decision to throw so much early in the game. For example, Alabama passed on eight of the nine plays during its first touchdown drive. That the linemen largely went unnoticed, and nullified their defensive counterparts, was a huge factor in the victory. Alabama running backs averaged 5.4 yards per carry, and Wilson was sacked only once, on a play he took off and was stopped before the line of scrimmage, to go with one hurry. One of the few setbacks was that the line was penalized for three false starts, and senior guard Justin Britt had personal foul (he was nearly called for a second late hit).

6. No Coffee, but plenty of T

Alabama used the pass to set up the run, but still stuck behind its bread-and-butter of running left behind sophomore left tackle Andre Smith. Actually, correct that. That Tide ran as much right and up the middle as to the left, but had the most success going left thanks to Grant’s 26-yard run in the second quarter. Otherwise, the numbers were comparable and Alabama’s longest carry was 8 yards, which it did three times including the draw for the final touchdown. Sophomore Roy Upchurch’s biggest contribution to the stat page was a 22-yard screen pass. Although sophomore Glen Coffee was suspended, junior Jimmy Johns still didn’t take any handoffs.

7 Against the run

A primary reason why coaches were so concerned with stopping Tennessee’s ground game, in addition to the five linemen averaging 304 pounds, was they didn’t want to come out of the nickel defense. Fortunately for them, the more Alabama’s lead grew, the less Tennessee tried to run. Junior Arian Foster accumulated 48 of his 91 rushing yards on just three carries, and Tennessee’s rushing output steadily decreased, from 57 yards in the first quarter and 54 in the second, to 34 in the third and 10 in the fourth. Also, one of the biggest plays of the game occurred midway through the second quarter, when on third-and-1 at the Alabama 47, senior linebacker Darren Mustin burst through the line and dropped freshman tailback Lennon Creer for no gain. Tennessee punted and Alabama responded with its 16-play touchdown drive.

8. That Jackson’s nasty

Although senior starting quarterback Erik Ainge finished with 243 passing yards and completed 12 of his first 14 passes, he was never able to get into much of a rhythm with his receiving corps, which was led by Austin Rogers’ four receptions. Catching the most passes, five, was Chris Brown, who is primarily a tight end/fullback, and Foster had four out of the backfield, including his 53-yard reception due to botched coverage. Jackson, who made two interceptions, had the most balls thrown his way, though after he knocked down two passes and made his first pick, Tennessee didn’t challenge him much more except to throw underneath him in zone coverage. Junior Lionel Mitchell had four balls thrown his way, with only one completion, and he nearly had an interception. Senior Simeon Castille was called for pass interference in the end zone, but had four tackles, deflected a pass and broke up another.

9. More special teams

Although it didn’t lead to a score, sophomore Javier Arenas’ 62-yard kick return was a terrific example of how to use blocks well, including those by Baron Huber, Travis McCall and Tyrone King. In addition to his onside recovery, Waldrop made a brutal hit on one kick return, and combined with freshman Charlie Higgenbotham on another, but was also flagged for holding. Sophomore P.J. Fitzgerald only had two punts, but one traveled 51 yards and the other was downed inside the 20. Sophomore Leigh Tiffin made 4 of 5 field goals, including the 44-yarder that bounced off the post. His miss was from 48 yards, but had plenty of distance. Senior Matt Caddell was added to kickoffs, both in coverage and returns. Alabama had no punt returns.

10. Ode to a broken headset

Coach Nick Saban’s tirade just before halftime began when Tiffin’s kickoff landed out-of-bounds, and intensified when junior safety Rashad Johnson was called for a late hit, which led to a Tennessee field goal. Johnson himself later joked that Saban yelled at him so much that he was hoping that someone else would come and yell or talk to him. At that point in the game, Alabama had seven penalties for 61 yards. The Tide was flagged only once in the second half, for 5 yards on a false start. Meanwhile, Tennessee, which coming in had the fewest penalties in the SEC, was flagged 11 times, often in crucial situations, for 81 yards.

Play of the game: Down 24-17, Tennessee was driving on its first possession of the second half, when it faced first-and-10 at the Alabama 36. The play-action to the right set up senior quarterback Erik Ainge to his left, where freshman Denarius Moore was running a post route. Freshman cornerback Kareem Jackson quickly closed and stepped in front of the pass for the interception at the 10, which he returned 29 yards. Alabama wound up kicking a field goal and the Vols only crossed midfield once more, for just one play.

Player(s) of the game: Junior quarterback John Parker Wilson had a career-high 363 passing yards, and his 32 completions tied a school record. Senior receiver DJ Hall’s 13 receptions set an Alabama record, and his 185 yards were a personal best.

Statistic of the game: The Crimson Tide had the ball for 37 minutes, 38 seconds, compared to Tennessee’s 22:22. On its 12 possessions, Alabama scored on eight, with a missed field goal, two punts and ran out the clock at the end of the game.

Hit of the game: In the second quarter, junior safety Rashad Johnson drilled Tennessee junior receiver Lucas Taylor on his second reception. Although coming in Taylor led the SEC in receiving yards (103 per game) and was second in receptions (6.83), he didn’t have a catch the rest of the game.

Did you notice?: Remember all those times Alabama lined up a running back wide, just in front of the sideline? Saturday it became a bona fide weapon and contributed to redshirt freshman Terry Grant’s six receptions for 31 yards and a touchdown.