TUSCALOOSA, Ala—The Vols found themselves in an unusual position on Saturday.
They were five minutes away from securing their first victory over No. 8 Alabama since 2006.
Alabama, however, made enough plays late in the fourth quarter to stave off Tennessee’s upset bid, outlasting the Vols, 19-14, in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
It was Tennessee’s lowest margin of defeat against Alabama since 2009 and arguably the Vols’ best defensive game of the season. Tennessee coach Butch Jones, however, isn’t going to assign the “moral victory” label next to the loss.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t proud of his players.
“I am really, really proud of our team,” Jones said. “I thought our team showed some grit, some determination, some resiliency on the road against a very quality opponent – a top-ten opponent – in a hostile environment to go down and drive the ball and put us in a position to win.”
Tennessee’s offense engineered a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. On the drive’s fourth and final play, Vols running back Jalen Hurd used a nice block from Jauan Jennings to scamper to the right side for a 12-yard touchdown, giving the Vols a 14-13 lead with 5:49 remaining in the game.
That was when the tide began to turn in Alabama’s favor.
The Crimson Tide marched 71 yards on eight plays to give themselves a 19-14 lead on a 14-yard Derrick Henry touchdown run and a failed two-point conversion attempt.
Tennessee’s offense had one last chance to win the game. Alabama’s Ryan Anderson, though, took advantage of Tennessee’s freshman right tackle Chance Hall, who was making his first start, and forced quarterback Joshua Dobbs to fumble. Alabama recovered the loose ball to seal the victory.
“They had a good push up front,” said Dobbs, who completed 13 of 22 passes for 171 yards for a touchdown. “They were able to make a play.”
Alabama (7-1, 4-1 SEC) made several plays in the final five minutes. Alabama receivers ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley both snagged tough receptions to prolong Alabama’s touchdown drive. Crimson Tide quarterback Jake Coker eluded pressure to avoid a devastating sack on the drive’s first play.
“We competed,” Vols senior safety Brian Randolph said. “We showed them that we could compete. We just have to finish. A loss is a loss.”
Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) has now lost 25 straight games to top-10 opponents and hasn’t beaten Alabama since 2006. This loss, however, felt different than the previous eight-straight defeats to the Crimson Tide. In the past, Alabama gained control early and cruised to an easy victory.
There was nothing easy for Alabama on Saturday.
Before Alabama’s final touchdown drive, Tennessee had outgained Alabama 310 to 300. (Alabama finished the game with 364 yards). After Alabama scored on its opening possession, Tennessee’s defense forced stops on four straight possessions.
The defense applied pressure on Coker for most of the game, recording a season-high nine sacks.
“We just made adjustments,” Randolph said. “We saw what they were trying to do to us. We had a good game plan, we have smart players so we could adjust our game plan to what they were trying to do.”
The offense couldn’t take capitalize on the defense’s strong performance. The Vols racked up 125 yards on their first two drives, but could only muster 178 the rest of the game.
The Vols even left point on the board. Aaron Medley missed all three field goals attempts, albeit two of the attempts were from 50 yards.
But despite all the struggles on offense and special teams, The Vols had their first fourth-quarter lead against the Crimson Tide since 2006 with five minutes left in the game.
They just couldn’t survive the final five minutes.
“We’re going through some growing pains right now,” Jones said. “But I see great progress. It’s about closing the game out, making critical plays when the game is on the line.
“We all hurt together, but we’re going to come back to work tomorrow and continue to improve.”
