‘If so, he’s going to hang a ton of points on that secondary’ – Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt predicts the final score of Tennessee vs Alabama
Can the Tennessee Vols beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa this weekend? The Vols’ College Football Playoff hopes may depend on it.
It doesn’t seem like there are many folks in the national media this week who believe the Tennessee Vols will beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
Most predictions that I’ve seen from national talking heads have Alabama beating Tennessee in Bryant-Denny Stadium for the 11th straight time.
ESPN’s Rece Davis, for example, predicted on Wednesday that the Crimson Tide would win on Saturday night.
Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt predicts the final score of Tennessee vs Alabama
Fox Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt is among those in the national media that has Alabama winning this weekend.
Klatt predicted on The Joel Klatt Show that Alabama will beat Tennessee 34-28.
“Here is the key in this football game,” said Klatt. “Can Tennessee get pressure on Ty Simpson? If they can, they can control the passing game. If they don’t, [Simpson] will eat them alive because [Alabama is] too good throwing the football. That’s the entire key. Can Bama give Ty Simpson time to throw? If so, he’s going to hang a ton of points on that secondary.
“Tennessee, meanwhile, on the offensive side, they’re the number one scoring team in the country. They’ve allowed only four sacks all year. So they’ve been protecting Joey Aguilar really well. And Bama hasn’t rushed the passer well. So this is not a game in which I think that Bama is all of a sudden going to come out and play some great defensive game. Remember, Vanderbilt had their opportunities early in that game in Bryant-Denny (Stadium), and Diego Pavia turned the ball over in the red zone a couple of times. So Joey Aguilar can’t turn it over. If he doesn’t [turn the ball over], Tennessee is going to be in this game. I really believe that — because I trust both of these passing games over the defenses that they’re facing.”
“Now, I think Bama has done an incredible job over the last few weeks, and (Kalen) DeBoer has this team believing and finding ways to win,” continued Klatt. “There’s no doubt. And their quarterback, man, he’s got a lot of guts and he’s got a lot of talent. If Tennessee doesn’t make the mistakes, they’ll be right there. But ultimately, in this one, I’m going to go with a Bama win. I think Bama wins it 34-28.”
Tennessee and Alabama are set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. The game will air on ABC.
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