Tennessee football: 4 bold predictions for Vols vs. Alabama
The Alabama Crimson Tide roll into Knoxville for the annual Third Saturday in October. Here are four bold predictions for the game.
The Tennessee Volunteers haven’t beat Alabama since the 16-13 win in 2006. If you’re counting, it’s been a really long time. Here are a few things that will put the long losing streak in perspective.
1. MySpace was the preferred social media website.
2. Bobby Bowden was still coaching college football.
3. There were no iPhones.
4. Barry Bonds was still playing baseball.
5. Nick Saban was coaching the Miami Dolphins.
6. Peyton Manning played for the Indianapolis Colts.
Since 2006, there are only a handful of times that the annual meeting has been close. Most recently in 2015 when the Vols held Alabama to just 19 points but still lost by five points. And, in 2009, when the Crimson Tide won in a 12-10 field goal thriller.
Can we expect a close game this year? What can we expect this year? I don’t think anyone is predicting an upset, at least I don’t think so.
However, Tennessee is improving every week. After an abysmal eight-turnover game against Florida, the Vols bounced back and played Georgia tough for four quarters.
This past Saturday, the improvement paid off in a big way with a win against the Auburn Tigers. Sure, they might be struggling, but the Vols still got a win against a ranked team at the time.
On the other hand, Alabama looks as scary as ever. For years, they have had one of the best defenses in the nation. Same holds true this year, although it isn’t as stout. But, that’s okay because the offense is probably the best in the nation. If they decided to play their starters the entire game, they could easily score 100 points on most teams.
In this post, we are going to give four bold predictions for the game. Last week we said the Vols would have the lead late in the fourth quarter, which came true. We also said Jarrett Guarantano would throw more touchdowns than Jarrett Stidham and while that prediction was a push, Guarantano was clearly the better quarterback.