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Five reasons Tennessee football will shock Alabama if healthy

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee leaves the locker room before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football
Tennessee leaves the locker room before a game Tennessee and Missouri at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.Kns Tennessee Missouri Football /
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Oct 16, 2021; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban watches his players warm up before a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2021; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban watches his players warm up before a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

A few things are constant in the world with the Alabama Crimson Tide under Nick Saban. First, they dominate the rest of the regular season if they have an early loss. Second, they just don’t lose to Tennessee football. To quote the GEICO commercials, if you’re Alabama, you beat the Vols. It’s what you do.

However, patterns have to end sometime. Alabama did lose two regular season games in four weeks just two years ago, the first time they had lost two regular season games in nine years. Maybe last year’s national championship has everybody forgetting that Saban’s dominance over the sport is fading slightly.

That’s enough for the boldest of bold predictions to be made on this site. Assuming Tennessee football is fully healthy on offense, and that means Cade Mays, Cooper Mays, Tiyon Evans and Hendon Hooker being ready to go, the Vols will pull off the upset of the year. Josh Heupel has beaten Saban before, as offensive coordinator, and he’ll do it again. Here are five reasons why.

5. Alabama can’t handle success.

Say what you want about past Crimson Tide teams, but this team still hasn’t proven it can handle success. Sure, in the past, Saban teams have refocused after losing a game early. Why does that mean that this team will do it, though? They haven’t proven any ability to handle success, so it’s more likely than not they come into this game wildly overconfident.

Last week’s games should make that more obvious. After all, Alabama refocused and dominated the Mississippi State Bulldogs 49-9 a week after being shocked by the Texas A&M Aggies. Meanwhile, the Vols lost at home 31-26 to the Ole Miss Rebels.

Alabama obviously dominated Ole Miss. However, their loss to Texas A&M came a week later. Don’t forget this team struggled with the Mercer Bears and Florida Gators after blowing out the Miami Hurricanes. Simply put, there is ample evidence that this team gets overconfident fast, and facing Tennessee football is naturally going to make them more overconfident.

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