Tennessee football: Game-by-game predictions for Vols 2019 season
Game Seven
Tennessee Volunteers at Alabama Crimson Tide
Saturday, Oct. 19; Bryant-Denny Stadium; Tuscaloosa, Ala.
And this is why Tennessee football fans never feel bad about playing an easy non-conference schedule. They have to draw Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide for the West every year. It’s no different in 2019.
Alabama is as brutal as they ever are, returning their star quarterback in Tua Tagovailoa, their star skill players in Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and Najee Harris, and an elite defense once again. Oh, and Saban is still with the program.
Meanwhile, the Vols will be traveling to Tuscaloosa hoping they are a different program in 2019, and they still might not have an answer through six games. While blowing out bad teams won’t be much of a barometer for that, though, losing to Alabama in blowout fashion isn’t going to mean that much either.
Not only are the Tide leaps and bounds ahead of the Vols, but Jeremy Pruitt is a former Saban assistant. And we all know what happens to former Saban assistants who face him. Only Kirby Smart has come close, and it’s only after he loaded up with talent.
Prediction
There is no shame in what will happen to the Vols in this game. They are simply not ready for the onslaught that Saban will bring Pruitt and co. As a result, UT will get blown out and lose its fourth straight game, setting panic in on Rocky Top. But everybody will have seen this one coming.
Alabama: 55 Tennessee: 17