Tennessee Volunteers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
While Week 8 of the college football season might not look that prominent on paper, but there are still some notable match ups. One of those notable match ups come to us from the SEC with one of the oldest rivalries in the sport being rekindled as the Tennessee Volunteers go on the road to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Details for Saturday’s game are below.
Date: Oct. 24
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Stadium: Bryant-Denny Stadium
TV Info: CBS
Live Stream: CBS Sports
Radio: For Alabama radio, click here. For Tennessee radio, click here.
Keys to Victory
Alabama
Right now, Alabama seems right back on track towards the College Football Playoff, whether people want to admit that or not. More or less at this point, if they can get their way past LSU then they might be there once again as the SEC Champions.
As far as getting past Tennessee on Saturday, however, they have one job on the defensive side of that ball, that being not letting Joshua Dobbs go wild on them. For as successful as these Alabama teams have been in recent years, if there’s one issue they’ve run into it’s stopping mobile quarterbacks. We’ve seen what this Tennessee offense can do when Dobbs takes control, and don’t think for a second that he can’t do the same to Alabama under the right circumstances.
Tennessee
For Tennessee, stopping Derrick Henry is crucial. Over the past few weeks, Henry has really stepped his game up, as scary as that is. However, if there is one defensive line that could potentially give the big man problems it’s certainly this Volunteers front. If they can force Alabama into relying on the pass, and if they can be consistent on the offensive side of the ball, they might have a chance in this one.
Odds
Point Spread: Alabama -15.5
Moneyline: Tennessee +525, Alabama -750
Over/Under: 52.5
Prediction
Coming into this one, Tennessee is coming off a huge signature win over Georgia, as well as a week off to prepare. This is a defining moment for Butch Jones to show off his in-game coaching skills, something that he’s been criticized about since the Florida debacle a few weeks ago.
But, he won’t get that defining moment here. Fact of the matter is that this Alabama team since losing to Ole Miss is on a mission. And while a showdown with LSU looms ahead, Nick Saban won’t let his guys overlook this Tennessee team.
If there will be one bright spot for Tennessee, though, it’ll be that they might keep it closer than some think, thanks to the play of Dobbs.
Final Score: Alabama 31, Tennessee 24 (Late score by the Vols)