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

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 20: Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers and head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide shake hands after the second half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Alabama won 58-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 20: Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers and head coach Nick Saban of the Alabama Crimson Tide shake hands after the second half of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Alabama won 58-21. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 26: A penalty flag is seen uring a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts on August 26, 2017 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
PITTSBURGH, PA – AUGUST 26: A penalty flag is seen uring a preseason game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts on August 26, 2017 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

10. Penalties

Before facing the Georgia Bulldogs, Tennessee football was getting an advantage on teams by limiting penalties. However, the Vols are now 11th in the SEC in fewest penalties per game and 11th in the SEC in fewest penalty yards per game. There’s no denying the fact that they have done a 180 the past two weeks, which is a big reason they lost both games.

Against the Georgia Bulldogs, a targeting penalty early knocked their best edge rusher, Deandre Johnson, out of the game and kept that drive alive for a touchdown. The offensive line then had 35 yards of drive-killing penalties. Meanwhile, a chop-block and a personal foul penalty killed two separate drives against the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Alabama Crimson Tide haven’t been much better on this front, however. In fact, they’ve been consistently worse in some ways. They are only ninth in fewest penalty yards per game in the SEC, but they are 12 in fewest penalties per game. Simply put, despite dominating some elite opponents, Nick Saban’s team can get flagged for lots of things.

As a result, don’t sleep on this becoming an issue on Saturday. If UT can return to its old self while Alabama continues to make such sloppy mistakes, the Vols will then be on their first step to making this game closer than it should be. There are tons of other things that have to happen, to be fair, but this is a necessity. If Alabama plays disciplined, then this will easily be a blowout.

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