Alabama OC Gives Offense Harsh Reality Check After Tennessee Loss

Alabama’s offensive coordinator pointed at one person for the mess in Knoxville, and it wasn’t his quarterback.

Ryan Grubb put the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 26-10 loss to Tennessee on himself when he met with reporters, according to Bama247’s Mike Rodak. A 5-0 team eight days earlier, Alabama has fallen to 5-2.

There was no deflecting in his answer. “More questions than answers right now, and it starts with me. I thought I had a good game plan. This isn’t a point the fingers at the kids sort of the day. … I thought I had them ready, and I didn’t,” Grubb said.

The box score backed him up. Alabama gained 201 total yards, only 54 of them on the ground, and averaged 3.7 yards per play with 12 first downs.

Four turnovers and a 2-of-13 showing on third down sank any comeback hopes. Against Georgia, the same unit had racked up 346 yards.

Freshman quarterback Keelon Russell completed 19 of 29 passes for 147 yards with two interceptions, and the Volunteers’ pass rush dropped him five times.

Tennessee carried a 12-10 edge into the locker room. DeSean Bishop then ran for two touchdowns after the break, and Alabama never responded.

His sharpest words came when he grouped both losses together. “Two weeks in a row with no points in the second half is pathetic,” he said.

Grubb’s math is slightly off. Alabama kicked a field goal in the third quarter against Georgia, a 20-17 loss on Oct. 10, but it hasn’t reached the end zone after halftime in either contest.

Angry fans got no lecture. “If I was a fan or supporter, I’d be pissed off, too,” Grubb said.

None of it changed his view of Russell. “I think Keelon Russell is the best quarterback in America, period,” Grubb said, per Rodak.

Russell went 16 of 30 for 185 yards with one touchdown against Georgia. He played the Volunteers without wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams.

With a 3-2 SEC record, Alabama has little margin, and Texas A&M visits Tuscaloosa next.