Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols’ 52-24 loss at Alabama

Despite leading 14-7 after the first quarter and only trailing by a touchdown entering the fourth quarter, Tennessee football ended up getting blown out by the Alabama Crimson Tide, who are ranked No. 4 in both polls, in the end. The Vols lost 52-24, falling to Nick Saban and co. for the 15th straight time in the series.

Up just 38-31 in the fourth, Alabama scored three straight touchdowns to pull away. Meanwhile, the Vols were hit with an interception and a turnover on downs, which is what turned the game into a blowout at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Saturday night.

With the win, UT falls to 4-4 on the year and 2-3 in the SEC. Alabama improves to 7-1 and 4-1 in the SEC. Both teams now enter a bye week. Rocky Top will next play Nov. 6 at the Kentucky Wildcats, and Alabama will next play that same day at home against the LSU Tigers. Here are five things we learned from Tennessee football’s loss.

5. The tide turned on penalties.

Heading into the game, the Vols had become famous for forcing penalties and much better at not committing penalties. Alabama, meanwhile, was still prone to numerous penalties. They were the second worst in the SEC only to the Ole Miss Rebels when it came to that, so this should have been a huge advantage for Rocky Top.

Well, it was the reverse Saturday night. UT committed 12 penalties and surrendered 98 yards, while Alabama committed four penalties and surrendered just 30 yards. Now, Alabama had the most costly penalty, as the Vols scored a touchdown after staying on the field thanks to a roughing the punter penalty in the first quarter.

However, overall, the Tide easily won this fight. It makes sense too, as they were the better team, so Tennessee football made more mistakes trying to come away with big plays. Still, the penalty situation was not ideal and neutralized a huge advantage for Josh Heupel’s team.