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Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 48-17 loss to Alabama

By Caleb Calhoun

Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) fumbles the ball in the end zone during the Alabama and Tennessee football game at Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.Tennessee Vs Alabama Football 100296
Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) fumbles the ball in the end zone during the Alabama and Tennessee football game at Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.Tennessee Vs Alabama Football 100296 /
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Tennessee defensive lineman Kurott Garland (79) tackles Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) during a game between Alabama and Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.102420 Ut Bama Gameaction
Tennessee defensive lineman Kurott Garland (79) tackles Alabama running back Najee Harris (22) during a game between Alabama and Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020.102420 Ut Bama Gameaction /

5. Defensive line looked worse

This was actually a big part of the failures in pass defense, but it deserves its own criticism. Tennessee football fired defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh earlier in the week after the Vols’ 34-7 loss to the Kentucky Wildcats. Jeremy Pruitt said it was a difference in philosophy, but it looked like blatant blame deflection given that this didn’t seem like the problem.

Well, Pruitt went further. He blamed the line for UT’s pass defense struggling to defend quick slants, noting that they should be clouding quarterbacks’ visions with the pressure up front. Based on the standard Pruitt set and the fact that he was coaching the defensive line, we then have to give this unit even more blame after the loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Alabama’s elite passing attack is enough for us to say the line didn’t do its job. However, lack of pressure without blitzing was indeed an issue. Also, the Tide running backs did have 31 carries for 164 yards, averaging over five yards a carry. While Mac Jones threw it all over the place, Najee Harris got the touchdowns, scoring three of them.

Brian Robinson Jr. had a touchdown run himself and averaged over seven and a half yards a carry. There were multiple times when the Vols’ defense got into the backfield, wrapped the running back up but couldn’t complete the tackle. Darel Middleton most notably did that on a third down in the first half. Lack of efficient tackling combined with the lack of pressure made this an issue.

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