Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 35-13 loss at Alabama

Despite a close game for three quarters, the Crimson Tide beat Tennessee football 35-13. Here are five takeaways from the UT Volunteers’ loss to Bama.

As Nick Saban went to 19-0 against his assistants and the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide moved to 7-0 on the season, Tennessee football fell to 2-5 with a 35-13 loss on the road. But hey, they covered the spread as a 34.5-point underdog.

In a game that saw both starting quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa and Brian Maurer, knocked out due to injury, the Vols kept things close for a while. They only trailed 21-13 with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter, and down 28-13, they were on the Alabama one-yard line in the fourth quarter with a chance to make it a one-score game.

However, a fumble returned 100 yards for a touchdown by Alabama changed the entire outlook of the game and put them in control. They pulled away with a three-score win, but it’s worth noting that only the Texas A&M Aggies played the Tide closer than the Vols. And nobody has been as close as UT was late in the second half.

Now, the story is going to be Alabama losing Tagovailoa to injury. After all, he is the beloved Heisman candidate. And him going 11-of-12 for 155 yards before getting hurt will help that narrative since his backup, Mac Jones, went six-of-11 for 72 yards.

However, neither quarterback threw a touchdown pass in the game, and Tagovailoa did throw a key red zone interception while under pressure. Also, the Vols having quarterback issues should count for something as well. Somebody should respect the fact that they also lost their quarterback due to injury. In fact, they lost him first.

But Tagovailoa is the storyline. It shouldn’t matter for Rocky Top, though. Jeremy Pruitt’s focus needs to be finding a way to get to .500 in his final five games. Before getting there, though, let’s reflect. Here are five takeaways from Tennessee football’s loss to Alabama.