Nick Saban explains why Alabama could have trouble with Tennessee
No one outside of Tennessee is expecting the Vols to beat Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. In fact, I think most UT fans have resigned themselves to a loss against the Crimson Tide. But that doesn't mean that Alabama head coach Nick Saban is taking the Vols lightly. In fact, Saban thinks this game […]
No one outside of Tennessee is expecting the Vols to beat Alabama on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.
In fact, I think most UT fans have resigned themselves to a loss against the Crimson Tide.
But that doesn't mean that Alabama head coach Nick Saban is taking the Vols lightly.
In fact, Saban thinks this game will be a big challenge for his team.
And if you think that's typical coach speak from Saban, it's not.
Saban explained during his radio show this week why his team could have some trouble with the Vols this weekend.
"They (UT) can run the ball effectively and they make a lot of explosive plays down the field," said Saban on Thursday. "They force people to stop the run with six guys in the box, so now you're playing single-high coverage and they run vertical routes so if you can't cover them or guys can't play the ball in the deep part of the field you end up giving up plays."
"That's how they've made a lot of explosive plays. It's challenging. You gotta try to disguise what you do, but when you're spread out so much it becomes very difficult to do that. They've got a really good offensive system and scheme."
Saban also noted that it's extremely hard to prepare for Tennessee's up-tempo offense. He explained that Alabama's scout team has to read the plays from a card, which makes it hard to replicate UT's offense in practice.
Up-tempo spread offenses have traditionally given Alabama some trouble (usually in the form of tough games, not losses) under Saban.
I'm not quite ready to put the Crimson Tide on upset alert, but I can see how this game could end up being closer than most folks expect it to be.
Featured image via Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
