Frank Lorenzo
(4) Alabama at Tennessee (+17, 46.5 o/u).
After their best game of the season last weekend, the Alabama Crimson Tide will look to stay hot tonight when they visit Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, to take on the Volunteers (7:30 p.m. Eastern).
After their best game of the season last weekend, the Alabama Crimson Tide will look to stay hot tonight when they visit Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, to take on the Volunteers (7:30 p.m. Eastern).
Last week, Alabama crushed Texas A&M (then the No. 21 in the country) 59-0, silencing most of their critics. The offense looked spectacular, recording 602 total yards; and QB Blake Sims had his best game as a starter, putting up 268 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Prior to the game, Alabama coach Nick Saban told his embattled offense that he had confidence in them.
“I said, `You guys are starting to feel the pressure, being criticized and not being the Sergeant at Arms that we need you to be in terms of how you control the line of scrimmage, how you dominate the line of scrimmage,” Saban said after the game. “`None of the other the guys are going to make any plays unless you guys do that. And I believe in you. I trust in you.”
The Volunteers do not stack up well against the mighty Tide. The Vols have lost four of their last five games, including last week’s 34-3 defeat against Ole Miss. But the program has a personal vendetta against Bama’s offensive coordinator, Lane Kiffin, who left the school to coach USC. Saban downplayed that aspect of the game, though.
“The game is not about that,” Saban said. “The game is about the players and regardless of what fans think or what fans do, I think our coaches and our players need to focus on what we’re going to do in the game and how we’re going to help our players play our best.”
Tennessee is 0-5 ATS in its last five games when playing at home against Alabama. To buck the trend, they will have to hold onto the football and control the line of scrimmage better than they did against Ole Miss. The Vols’ offense turned the ball over four times, while the defense gave up 180 yards on the ground. Limiting the Bama run game will be easier said than done, though. That unit finally had the breakout game it was looking for last week, putting up almost 300 yards on the ground.
The Crimson Tide are favored by 17 points.
(Photo credit: Joel Kramer (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/] via Creative Commons.)
