If the Tennessee Vols are going to beat Alabama on Saturday, there's one thing they absolutely must do on offense.

When Tennessee gets into a third-down situation, under no circumstances can they slow down the tempo and allow Alabama to substitute.

The Crimson Tide's "cheetah package", which features pass rushers Will Anderson Jr., Dallas Turner, and Chris Braswell, is one of the most dangerous pass-rushing attacks in college football.

Alabama, however, doesn't usually leave those three outside linebackers on the field at all times. Typically, they're mostly on the field together on third downs when it's a passing situation.

Bama used this package against Texas A&M last weekend and it was quite effective.

The Crimson Tide's three "cheetahs" had seven tackles, three sacks, four tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hurries against the Aggies.

There have been times this season when the Vols slowed down their tempo (mostly to bleed some clock). It's been nice to see that Tennessee's offense could still be effective while not moving at warp speed.

But against Alabama, they can't slow down. They can't substitute and allow the Crimson Tide to get their desired personnel on the field. If they go with tempo for the entire game, it'll force Nick Saban to choose whether or not he goes an entire drive with his first and second down personnel or his third down personnel.

Either way will be an advantage for Tennessee because it will somewhat force Saban, via the personnel on the field, to declare how he's defending the Vols on that particular drive.

And as we've learned with Josh Heupel, the Vols, led by quarterback Hendon Hooker, will identify the mismatches and run the appropriate play.

Tempo is one of the big reasons why Tennessee has a really good chance to upset Alabama. The tempo allows Heupel and the Vols to dictate how the game is played, which means Saban and the Tide will be reacting to what Tennessee does.

And anytime you have a team playing reactive football, it's usually good news.

Tempo is what got the Vols on the brink of the top five. They need to run plays as fast as they ever have on Saturday against Alabama if they want to avoid squandering this huge opportunity.

Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports