Tennessee football vs. Alabama: 10 keys for Vols and Crimson Tide

10. Is Alabama ready for the crowd at Neyland Stadium?

This seems like a silly question. The Alabama Crimson Tide have only lost five true road games dating back to 2008. Nick Saban is actually almost as bad at home, where he’s lost four games. So the venue wouldn’t seem to make a difference.

However, there have been clear moments when it has. Against the Auburn Tigers in 2013 and the Ole Miss Rebels in 2014, the crowd noise made a huge difference in the win, forcing numerous Alabama mistakes. And there’s still that inexplicable loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks way back in 2010. I’ll be fair, though, and say Ole Miss was the last time it happened. Injuries, not the crowd, cost them against Auburn in 2017.

Tennessee football will be hosting this game with some pretty impressive crowd noise on its own. Remember, the Vols’ last home game was against the Florida Gators, and the crowd showed up there. This time, after such a huge win over the Auburn Tigers, they may even be louder.

Alabama’s only two road tests on the year have been against Ole Miss and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Well, Arkansas is awful, and Ole Miss doesn’t have a defense, which is kind of crucial if you want to use the home crowd to your advantage.

The Vols, meanwhile, do have a developing defense under Jeremy Pruitt. It’s aggression can create plays. So this crowd could end up playing a factor. And speaking of Pruitt, that’s another potentially huge factor in this game.