Tennessee Tops Alabama in Wild Battle of Unbeatens

Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker threw five touchdown passes to wide receiver Jalen Wright as the #6 ranked Volunteers upset #3 Alabama 52-49 on October 15th in Knoxville in a big SEC showdown between unbeatens. But for all those TD passes, it was a wobbly 40 yard field goal by Tennessee kicker Chase McGrath as time expired that put it in the win column for the Volunteers.

Hyatt caught six passes in total for 207 yards. None of this three yards and a cloud of dust stuff in this game; Tennessee had 567 yards of offense and Alabama had 569.

Even though Alabama and Tennessee are in separate divisions of the SEC, this rivalry game is played every year on the third Saturday of October. But from 2007 until now, it had been all Alabama with 15 straight victories. Perhaps the most bleak period was 2016-18, when Bama won 49-10, 45-7, and 58-21. Tennessee hasn’t been within a touchdown since a 19-14 loss in 2015. Of course, Alabama has won six national championships since 2009 and have been beating up a lot of teams since then.

With just one loss, and a close one to a good team, the Crimson Tide (6-1 overall, 3-1 in the SEC) is still very much in the running for another national championship run. Now Tennessee (6-0, 3-0) is also a making a run at that title. Mark your calendars for November 5th, when the Volunteers will be at defending champion and current #1 ranked Georgia. While Tennessee was locked in battle with Alabama, the Bulldogs crushed Vanderbilt 55-0.