The Third Saturday in October serves as an inflection point for No. 6 Alabama (5-1, 3-1 SEC) and No. 14 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) as the calendar flips to the second half of the regular season, and teams start to show whether they are playoff contenders or pretenders.
The Volunteers have come away with the victory the last two times the Crimson Tide has traveled to Neyland Stadium in this rivalry matchup. Alabama will be trying to reverse that trend when it travels to Knoxville this weekend for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff on ABC.
Here are three of the biggest storylines I'm keeping an eye on heading into Saturday's game:
How Alabama responds to first loss
"Don't let Georgia beat you twice," has been a common refrain around the Alabama football facility this week. The Crimson Tide isn't trying to look ahead to a potential rematch with the Bulldogs (though that's certainly possible), but instead Alabama doesn't want the same mistakes to lead to another loss this Saturday at Tennessee.
With the format of the College Football Playoff including 12 teams, Alabama still has all its preseason goals ahead of it. The Tide is still in a great spot for a CFP berth and a shot at the SEC title game, but those positions become a lot less stable with a loss to Tennessee.
"For us now, we just gotta pick up, and we gotta move on," Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. "We gotta have great meetings today. We gotta have a great mindset and energy tomorrow. Coaches putting together a plan, and let's go execute it. We know we're going into a great environment. Coach [Josh] Heupel's done another great job this year of putting a team together that's in the hunt and playing a high level of football, especially as a team. And we gotta go there. We understand what this game means to our fan base and the energy that all surrounds that."
Tennessee is ranked inside the top 15, but the Vols have really struggled at times this season, especially on offense. In SEC play, Tennessee is averaging 21.7 points per game. The Volunteers needed a late touchdown to beat an Arkansas team last week that hasn't won an SEC game in nearly two years.
Alabama is coming off a game that went down to the wire against No. 1 Georgia. The Crimson Tide is favored to win the game and should be, but will it play like it? In order to keep its status as one of the top teams in college football, Alabama needs to get a win in Knoxville this weekend.
What does the Alabama offensive line look like if Racin Delgatty can't play?
In each of the Crimson Tide's first two road games, Alabama was without a starter on the offensive line. In Week 2 at Kentucky, right guard Michael Carroll was out with a concussion. Two weeks ago at Mississippi State, right tackle Jayvin James was unable to go.
It seems unlikely that starting center Racin Delgatty will be able to play against Tennessee. He was listed as "questionable" on Wednesday night's availability report. His status can change by Saturday, but Alabama has two different options in place.
Junior Casey Poe has been listed as the backup center on the depth chart, and DeBoer said it would be Poe or Mal Waldrep Jr. at center if Delgatty can't go. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said it would be Waldrep, who has previously filled in at the guard spots when the starters are injured.
"Mal takes a ton of reps there," Grubb said Monday. "Does a really good job, smart, tough, dependable. He'll do a good job."
Not having your starting center available in what will be the loudest environment you've played in by far against the team leading the SEC in sacks certainly isn't ideal. Communication will be key. Alabama has been prepared and tested in its previous two roads starts missing starters on the offensive line, and it will once again have to rise to the challenge this weekend in Neyland Stadium.
Can the Alabama defense limit the run to force whoever starts at quarterback for Tennessee to make plays?
There is also some uncertainty surrounding the Tennessee offense this week over who will start at quarterback. Freshman Faizon Brandon won the starting job at quarterback for the Vols to open the season and started the first five games.
Brandon suffered an injury in Tennessee's Week 4 loss to Texas and aggravated the injury the next week against Auburn. Sophomore George MacIntyre came in for Brandon against Auburn and got the start last week in the road win at Arkansas. Brandon was listed as "questionable" on the availability report for the Volunteers.
Regardless of whether it is Brandon or MacIntyre that starts against the Crimson Tide, it will be a young, inexperienced quarterback making the biggest start of his collegiate career. The good news for the Volunteers is they have one of the best running backs in the SEC in DeSean Bishop.
Last season against Alabama, Bishop ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns. It was more yards than any single running back gained on the Crimson Tide in 2025. This season, he's second in the SEC averaging 113 yards per game on the ground.
Alabama's defense has been susceptible to the run, allowing 200+ rushing yards in two of the first four SEC games. Kane Wommack's Swarm D has to find ways to limit Bishop and Tennessee's rushing attack overall to try to force the quarterbacks to beat them.
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