KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − Alabama football suffered its second loss of the season at Tennessee on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, 26-10, as the Crimson Tide offense continued to skid. The Volunteers dominated the first quarter, marking yet another slow start for UA, and played stingy enough defense to hold Alabama to a season-low 10 points. Here are a few instant thoughts from the game:
Talking points on Alabama football
1) Funny what good defense can do to how an offense is perceived. Georgia and Tennessee boast the two most talented defenses Alabama has faced this season — by no small margin — and for the last two weeks, it's showed. What looked like a juggernaut of an Alabama offense earlier in the season has been pedestrian of late and was downright atrocious to begin Saturday's game against the Volunteers. Its first three possessions resulted in two turnovers — a lost fumble and an interception by UA quarterback Keelon Russell — with a punt from its own 12-yard line in between. At the end of the first quarter, the Crimson Tide had just 21 yards of offense, one first down and no answers. With injuries mounting on the offensive side of the ball, offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has a tough week of preparation ahead.
2) After navigating a stretch of three and a half games without a turnover, Russell now has four in his last game and a half, and he was fortunate not to be intercepted yet again by the Volunteers on an ill-advised first-half throw that UT couldn't quite come up with. Ball security is job No. 1 for a quarterback, and as the Crimson Tide navigates the season's home stretch, Russell must return to posting zeroes in the turnover column.
3) Credit the Alabama defense for keeping the score close when it could have been an early blowout. Russell's early fumble gave UT a drive start on the Alabama 19-yard line, but the defense got a big win in holding the Volunteers to a field goal. It later limited UT to a field goal on a drive that began at midfield, and Ivan Taylor's second-quarter interception set up Alabama's first touchdown. It was a tired defense late when UT pulled away, but make no mistake: absent Kane Wommack's crew bristling when it had to early, the Volunteers would have won with much greater ease.
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Turning point
Alabama's failed fourth-down conversion attempt to begin the second half opened the door Tennessee needed. The Volunteers stuffed Daniel Hill for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the UT 40, then their offense took advantage by driving 60 yards for their first touchdown and a 19-10 lead. Alabama never recovered from that.
By the numbers
159 — Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop ran for 159 yards on 32 carries to give QB George MacIntyre more than enough short-yardage situations to navigate the victory.
What I liked
It's one thing to hammer home a field goal in a blowout against a weaker opponent. It's another to do so in a high-pressure situation against a rival. Alabama K Conor Talty continued his season of field-goal perfection with a 42-yarder at the end of the first half, with a throng of Tennessee fans in his ear, to cut the Volunteers' lead to 12-10. He's now 10-for-10 on the season, and UA offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb should consider him a weapon for the balance of the season.
What I didn't like
It's difficult to fathom why the UA coaching staff declined a penalty for running into the kicker on a first-half punt. The 5-yard penalty would not have resulted in a first down, or even an attempted fourth-down conversion, as UA would still have faced a fourth-and-18 situation. Still, the result of the play was a 38-yard punt downed at the 50-yard line. That's outstanding field position, and had UA chosen to punt again, it could have put its defense in a far better position. UT got three points out of the possession on a 41-yard field goal.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodb
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why Alabama football's offense fell apart at Tennessee | Goodbread