‘They give up big plays’ – ESPN’s Rece Davis picks a winner in the big SEC showdown between Tennessee and Alabama
ESPN and the entire College GameDay podcast are unified in their prediction for the big SEC showdown between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Tennessee is set to host Alabama on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium.
The Vols are looking to win their third straight game over the Crimson Tide in Knoxville for the first time since 1996-1998-2000.
ESPN’s Rece Davis makes his pick for the Tennessee vs Alabama game
ESPN’s Rece Davis, who graduated from Alabama, made his pick for the matchup between the Volunteers and the Crimson Tide on this week’s College GameDay podcast.
Davis noted that Alabama has a tendency to give up some explosive plays, but he’s still rolling with the Tide this week.
“I lean Alabama,” said Davis. “You’ve got a couple of South Dakota guys leading their teams in Josh Heupel and Kalen DeBoer. Did you know DeBoer at Alabama is 6-0 after a loss? In his career, he’s 12-2 after a loss.
“… The one thing about Alabama’s defense, which would be dangerous against a Josh Heupel offense, is they give up big plays. We saw plenty of that against Georgia on Saturday night. We’ve seen a lot of it over the course of the season. Driving the ball down the field with Tennessee’s offense with young quarterbacks might be difficult. But popping a play for 50 yards and making the drive a lot easier? That happens against Alabama. That’s what I would watch for in this game. That and protecting (Alabama QB) Keelon Russell from a very good Tennessee pass rushing defense. But I’ll take Alabama to win the game.”
ESPN’s Pete Thamel is on the same page as Davis.
“I like Alabama in this game,” said Thamel. “(Tennessee QB) Faizon Brandon has practiced a significant uptick from how much he practiced the week before, which wasn’t very much, so there’s potential that he’s going to be available. They may end up playing two quarterbacks. But without the full threat of the run RPO game, it’s hard to see Tennessee, especially with its beat up offensive line, really pushing around this Alabama defense. So I think the Tide, I don’t know if they cover the 8.5 (point spread), but I think they go up to Knoxville and roll.”
ESPN’s Dan Wetzel also picked Alabama to beat Tennessee.
“I’m interested to see the Alabama defense,” said Wetzel. “Tennessee’s offense didn’t do much of anything against the Texas defense. How close is Alabama’s defense to the Texas defense? I think it’s not far from it.
“I just think Alabama’s got too much. There’s too many questions for Tennessee. They have a very good defense, and I don’t expect Alabama to score a ton of points in this game, which is why that point spread may be interesting. But I think they have enough to pull this one out, particularly if it’s going to be (Tennessee QB) George MacIntyre the entire game.”
It’s still unclear if true freshman Faizon Brandon or sophomore George MacIntyre will start at quarterback this week. Brandon, as Thamel noted, has practiced this week (shoulder injury), but most feel like MacIntyre will start for the second straight week.
Either way, Rece Davis and his boys have Alabama getting a big win in Knoxville.
Tennessee and Alabama will kick off at 3:30 PM ET on Saturday. The game will air on ABC.
Update:
Thamel reported on Thursday morning that MacIntyre will start against Alabama.
