Tennessee football: Turning points in Vols’ 35-13 loss at Alabama

A tough loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide came down to a few plays for Tennessee football. Here were the UT Volunteers’ key moments.

Hey, they were in this game until the fourth quarter. Tennessee football showed it never had any quit against the Alabama Crimson Tide, keeping it a one-possession game up until about 20 minutes were left to play.

So what changed? Well, a penalty here and a turnover there proved disastrous. Mistakes that you can’t make against the Alabama Crimson Tide were made, and that resulted in the Vols falling to 2-4, 1-3 in the SEC, and winless over the last 13 years against Bama.

How did this happen against the No. 1 team in the nation on the road? It was somewhat predictable. But it’s also intriguing. Here is a look at the key moments and turning points in Tennessee football’s loss to Alabama.

Two defensive penalties assist Alabama’s first touchdown.

Early on, it looked like the game would be a blowout. And that’s because on Alabama’s first offensive drive, the Vols’ secondary had two key penalties. Bryce Thompson had a pass-interference, and there was a defensive holding two plays later. So Alabama scored a running touchdown from the one to go up 7-0.

Back-to-back penalties stall potential second-quarter touchdown.

Down 14-7, Tennessee football was driving. The Vols got to the Alabama five and made it first and goal. An inadvertent whistle that followed a Jarrett Guarantano injury ruined a wildcat play for the Vols. But then they got a false start and offensive holding on back to back plays. What could have been a game-tying touchdown ended in a field goal to result in a 14-10 score in the first half.

Tua Tagovailoa converts 3rd down then benefits from 1st and goal personal foul.

Ahead 14-10, the Alabama Crimson Tide extended the game to two scores on the next drive. But there were two plays that made it happen. Tua Tagovailoa, before he got hurt, converted on a 3rd and 5 from inside the UT 10-yard line. Then there was a targeting foul on Daniel Bituli the next play. The Tide scored because of that, but Bituli being knocked out of the game was also key.

Penalty on Darrell Taylor keeps penalty alive.

In the third quarter, Tennessee football cut Alabama’s lead to 21-13. Then they got a stop after a brilliant blitz call by Jeremy Pruitt on 3rd down. But Darrell Taylor stayed on top of Mac Jones and got an unnecessary roughness penalty, one that was highly questionable, to keep the drive alive for the Tide. They scored on that drive to go up 28-13 and keep it in control.

Alabama returns goal-line fumble for a touchdown.

There’s no doubt that this was the play to put the Tide in control for good. Down 28-13, the Vols had gotten inside the five-yard line. Jim Chaney called three straight running plays to get the ball down to the one. Then, on fourth down, Jarrett Guarantano tried to go up and over, but he fumbled. Trevon Diggs recovered and returned it 100 yards the other way for a touchdown.

As a result, what could have been 28-20 became 35-13 with seven minutes left in the fourth. So it effectively ended the game. Jeremy Pruitt lashed out at Guarantano for the play on the sideline as well, and he then put in J.T. Shrout, but he took responsibility and admitted to calling a sneak in the postgame press conference. Regardless of fault, this play ended the game.