Tennessee dominated Alabama thanks in large part to two very big offseason decisions by Josh Heupel
The Vols’ injected some major juice into their defense and roster as a whole this offseason.
The Tennessee Vols announced themselves as College Football Playoff contenders in a massive way on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium, dominating the Alabama Crimson Tide 26-10.
It was a game where Tennessee took the lead early and never let it go the rest of the day. Tennessee chipped away on an opening field goal drive and turned Alabama over twice in the first quarter. Tennessee leaned on the run and controlled passing game to a 9-0 lead. They slowly put the game away with a 60-yard third quarter touchdown drive and 72-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
And it was two big swings this offseason from Josh Heupel that unquestionably powered that win: Derek Owings and Jim Knowles.
Josh Heupel’s hires of Jim Knowles and Derek Owings a big reason why Tennessee defeated Alabama on Saturday
Knowles’ defense was absolutely dominant on the day. His group held Alabama to 201 total yards and just one touchdown drive on the day, which covered only 14 yards after a Tennessee interception. The Crimson Tide rushed for just 54 yards on 26 carries (2.1 yards per carry). Heisman Trophy contender Keelon Russell had unquestionably his worst game of the season. He finished 19/29 passing for 147 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Tennessee was hyper focused on Russell’s scrambling, as he finished with 11 rushes for six yards. And despite Russell being super mobile compared to Tennessee’s George MacIntyre, it was Russell who was sacked five times, with MacIntyre being sacked just once.
And Tennessee was clearly the stronger, better conditioned, and more physical team across the entire 60 minutes, and that’s a clear credit to the job Owings has done this offseason after coming over from Indiana. Tennessee’s run game has gotten better as the game has gone along this season, and that was again the case on Saturday, as the Vols’ wore down and put away Alabama in the second half. The Vols’ defense swarmed from start to finish, with fatigue being the last factor on either side of the ball.
When a coach makes a mistake on a hire, it’s one of the first things he gets raked over the coals for when things go south. But the same energy needs to be given when those hires turn out to be season-altering moves like these have been for Tennessee.
It’s quite the turnaround from an 8-5 2025 season. Tennessee is now legitimately in the thick of both SEC and College Football Playoff races ten months later. And Tennessee fans have two shrewd moves to thank for that.
