Jacob Coker: Tide survives shaky Coker performance

Saban’s ownership of Tennessee dates back to his LSU days, when the 2001 SEC Championship Game victory helped end UT’s reign atop the league. “(If) they broke one tackle, two other guys were there to make the next tackle”. “We didn’t have a lot of energy like we usually do, and I think that’s due to playing eight games in a row”, Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said. Alabama won 34-20 previous year in Knoxville. I know we’re in a business where your progress is measured by wins and losses, but you step back, and I see the progress and how far we’ve come with this football program and this football team.

And they were still celebrating the rivalry win that included a few anxious moments.

Tennessee is coached by Butch Jones. Georgia, which was No. 19, fell out of the Top 25 thanks to its 38-31 loss to Tennessee. Versus Alabama though, Tennessee lived in the backfield at times. The lone score in the 3 quarter came after Alabama failed to punch the ball in from the 1-yard line and settled for a 19 yard field goal taking a 10-7 lead. Dobbs replaced Nathan Peterman after two series last season after also coming off the bench as a freshman.

But Tennessee answered with a 12-yard run by Jalen Hurd. It was his fourth-straight game with 26 or more carries. Auburn is now 1-3 in league play, leaving it last in the SEC West.

In a defensive battle where both teams missed numerous opportunities, Alabama edged Tennessee 19-14 to win their ninth consecutive game against the Vols.

The Crimson Tide were 5 point favorites against Texas A&M and the total was 54.5.

It was the fourth straight SEC home game (including 2014) in which Alabama didn’t have the lead at halftime. The first half featured two pick sixes by Alabama and a punt return for a touchdown by Texas A&M.

Derrick Henry has helped the Crimson Tide be a potent offense despite having a few inconsistency at quarterback.

Despite those valiant stops, the game-changing drive wasn’t the effort that gave Tennessee the lead, it was the Alabama offense making the plays that determined the outcome. The Crimson Tide should roll in this one, although nothing has come with certainty this season.

The only one of the Vols’ final five opponents that has been ranked this season is Missouri, and the Tigers (4-4, 1-4) have fallen well out of the polls. The next season he lost by 14; this season his team only lost by 5. The Volunteers are #22 in scoring nationally. Tennessee has forced 8 turnovers and has 5 of their own.

The College Football Playoff Committee reports for duty next week to issue its first rankings November 3 with unbeaten LSU and once-beaten Alabama figuring to be in the mix for the four playoff spots. And this opponent just so happened to be Tennessee. The Volunteers still had 2:24 left to drive the field.

Alabama took a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter when Henry capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a 20-yard rushing touchdown. “Really good catches, really good throws, [and then] were able to run the ball and we ran the catch sweep counter on the touchdown run which was a great misdirection”. Tennessee managed to rush for 132 yards against Alabama’s stout defense. Running back Ralph Abernathy IV is questionable with an ankle injury.

If Dobbs is able to scramble and keep drives going, the Vols can be unsafe. Three running plays later, Henry was in the end zone.