Tennessee vs Alabama: Last-Minute Predictions for Vols and Tide

Tennessee vs Alabama is a Top 10 match-up between two huge rivals. Here are the last-minute predictions for the Volunteers and Tide football game.

It’s now come down to a one game season for the Vols. Tennessee vs Alabama features two Top 10 teams going at it at Neyland Stadium with one desperately trying to stay in the College Football Playoff race.

Butch Jones and the coaching staff have to know this. Given the fact that a bye week follows and then the easy part of their schedule comes after that, he’s likely to pull every trick out of the hat for this game.

This Tennessee vs Alabama game is of the highest magnitude in a long time in the series. Both teams are thinking about championships, and it’s the highest combined ranking between the two schools when they face each other in history.

But how can the Vols handle the Crimson Tide, who are riding so high right now? Nick Saban’s team just blew out the Arkansas Razorbacks on the road and look like an invincible team.

Nobody is giving Tennessee any respect in the process.

Perhaps that’ll work out well for Butch Jones’s squad. After all, their only loss was in double-overtime last week to the undefeated Texas A&M Aggies on the road.

With a few key injuries still plaguing them and the Tide humming, what happens in this game? Here are our last-minute predictions for Tennessee vs Alabama.

1. Josh Smith and Ethan Wolf will combine for over 100 receiving yards.

It’s hard to say which player will get the bulk of the passes, but Josh Smith and Ethan Wolf together will present a problem for the Tide. All year long, they have struggled guarding slot and tight end players. That’s what allowed Chad Kelly and Austin Allen to throw for 400 yards on them each. The same thing will happen today with Smith and Wolf. Together, they will go over 100 yards. However …

2. Jalen Hurts and Damien Harris will combine for over 200 rushing yards.

Although they could have Darrin Kirkland Jr. back, the Vols will still have trouble stopping this Alabama rushing attack. Lane Kiffin has worked it to perfection. Damien Harris has saved his best play for the biggest games, and this is the biggest game he’s seen so far. So he could easily go off. Meanwhile, Hurts is just going to have a few big runs on the day. So Tennessee is going to have trouble stopping them altogether, with or without Kirkland. But there is some good news for the Vols and Hurts …

3. Tennessee will sack Jalen Hurts four times.

Alabama has been sacked 10 times on the year, but they are going to be sacked four times in this game. Jalen Hurts has not seen a crowd like he will see at Neyland Stadium, and he’s going up against a Bob Shoop defense that will be difficult to figure out. Derek Barnett will eat Cam Robinson’s lunch, and Corey Vereen will make plays on the other side. As a result, the Vols will make a lot of great plays in addition to giving up big plays. Speaking of those big plays …

4. Alabama will score another defensive touchdown. 

This is just natural here. Tennessee has turned into a turnover machine over the past few weeks, and they aren’t likely to end their habit of putting the ball on the ground this game. Nick Saban knows that and will push his defense to attack as much as possible. And they’ve made a habit out of defensive scores. So expect another one today.

5. This game will be low-scoring.

Everybody is calling for a shootout in this game, but it’s not going to happen. Tennessee’s defensive line won’t let Alabama do much in the passing game, even if they run for 200 yards, while Alabama’s defense overall won’t let the Vols do much. Both teams will move the ball, but they’ll run lots of clock doing it. So neither team will score more than 24 points in this game as a result.