‘I wasn’t going through that again’ – Former Alabama player reveals why Tennessee had him fuming at halftime
One of the Tennessee Vols’ most painful losses of the Josh Heupel era happened in 2023 in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
The Tennessee Vols haven’t won a game in Tuscaloosa since a 51-43 five-overtime victory against Alabama in 2003.
Tennessee has come close a few times — specifically in 2009 and 2015 — but they just haven’t been able to seal the deal in crunch time in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Vols’ most recent close call in Tuscaloosa came in 2023 when Tennessee held a 20-7 lead going into halftime.
Alabama, however, outscored Tennessee 27-0 in the second half to secure a 34-20 win.
For years, that game has felt like one that got away for Vols fans. Tennessee seemed in control of the game, but Alabama came out firing in the second half, scoring on the second play of the third quarter.
A big reason Alabama came out hot in the second half was because of an inspiring halftime speech that defensive back Kool-Aid McKinstry delivered.
McKinstry detailed the memory this week on NFL Spotlight With Ari Meirov.
“We were playing Tennessee, and they had just beat us the year before, my sophomore year, in Tennessee,” said McKinstry. “We came out kind of flat. We got to halftime and it’s just like something clicked in my head. Like, ‘Man I ain’t going through how I felt last year like that again.’ Because so many times in that game (in 2022) we could have won that game and put that game away — even though they came out on us 21-0 (at the beginning of the game).
“So I felt like we were kind of playing that same type of way (in 2023). And I just went in the locker room, and I know the guys who were on the team remember this, and I just went off. I don’t even remember what I said. I was just thinking [recently] that I’ve got to get that video of me with whatever I was saying to Tennessee. But I just let them know, ‘This is not what we’re fixing to do.’ We came out and Isaiah Bond went deep on the first drive and we went from there. And we ended up killing them.”
I don’t know what McKinstry said at halftime (and neither does he apparently), but whatever it was, it definitely worked.