With 12:49 left in the 4th quarter and Tennessee leading Alabama 19-10, the Volunteer offense began a drive that would chew 9:39 of game clock and end with DeSean Bishop lining up behind two fullbacks and plunging into the endzone from five yards out. It was a coronation of a drive that crowned the Vols’ efforts on the day, giving UT an insurmountable lead with just 3:12 left in the game.
Or at least that’s how it felt. In hindsight, the game was clinched way earlier than that. It happened with 5:22 left in the 2nd quarter, when Cooper Ranvier nailed his 4th field goal of the day giving Tennessee a 12-7 lead. Alabama was never going to score more than 12. Heck, they weren’t going to score 10 without a tipped-ball INT at Tennessee’s 14 yard line that set the Tide up for their lone TD of the day. Bama only drove into Tennessee territory three times in the game: one was on a drive that started at their own 45, and one on their last possession when UT was playing prevent defense. Their only other sustained drive resulted in a turnover on downs at the Tennessee 40.
Tennessee has beaten Alabama three of the last five years. The wins aren’t as foreign as they once were. But winning like that is something Vol fans haven’t experienced in a long, long while. Kids in the student section haven’t seen it in their lifetime. Outside of a mind-boggling error in the punt return game, all three phases played a near-perfect game. It was the most complete game I can remember Tennessee playing in a very long time, especially with the stakes being as high as they were here.
Five Factor Box Score
Tennessee’s 3.25 points per scoring opportunity normally wouldn’t get it done. You can get away with it, though, when you hold the other guys to a paltry two points per opportunity. The number that really pops, though, is Tennessee’s near 33% havoc rate. That’s every third play—once every set of downs.
Rushing Report
A stunning 27% of Alabama’s rush attempts were stuffed at or behind the line (havoc rate strikes again), and only 25% of Bama’s power runs succeeded. Two of those power runs were on a fourth downs with one resulting in a Daniel Hill fumble, and the other in Hill getting stuffed at the line.
Player Usage & PPA
Keelon Russell did avoid the curse of the negative PPA quarterback, but just barely, and mostly because of that last drive that allowed Bama to go from their own 12 to the UT 26 before throwing a final INT.
Mike Matthews had what was probably his best game of the season so far. But what will be remembered was the sequence during the Vols 4th quarter death march drive when Matthews earned a personal foul throwing a block that is by the book illegal (but would’ve been a Sportscenter Top 10 play in the not-too-distant past), then gained 19 yards back on a quick screen the play after. I can only imagine that calling Matthews’ number the play after the penalty was a calculated move by Heupel and co.
The feel-good story of the game, though, is the duo of DeSean Bishop and George MacIntyre, both Tennessee kids who no doubt dreamed of this night in their backyards as children, and delivered when given the chance. GMac’s stat line won’t wow anyone, but his decisiveness with the ball and game management are exactly what Tennessee’s offense needs right now. And Bishop’s 150+ yards seems like standard operating procedure at this point, but absolutely should be opening eyes around the country. There’s no reason for Bishop to not be in the Heisman running at this point, as Bishop has performed at a higher level and more consistently than many of the names associated with the award at this point of the season.