Alabama at Tennessee line, game pick: Limping Vols hope to snap skid vs. Tide

Tennessee must overcome a handful of key injuries to upset top-ranked Alabama on Saturday

By Chip Patterson

& Robby Kalland

Oct 14, 2016 at 5:43 pm ET • 3 min read

It's the third Saturday in October, and as Jon Solomon mentioned earlier this week, it's finally relevant again. Alabama and Tennessee have shown us thus far on the field a level of play that suggests these two teams might meet again in the SEC Championship Game. The Tide have 18 straight wins dating back to last season and nine straight wins in this rivalry against the Vols.

"I think you get very quickly a feel for what your own players on your own team, even that were here before you came here, what's important to them," Saban said on his radio show. "And it was very obvious to me that the Tennessee game was always the biggest game. It was always the biggest game for us. That's no disrespect to Auburn or the great Iron Bowl rivalries. But to our players and a lot of our fans, the Tennessee game, because of the tradition of the game, [is important], so it didn't take long to figure that out."

Newer Alabama fans might think of Auburn or LSU as Alabama's primary rival in the SEC, but for decades of Alabama football history, this was the game circled on the calendar every year, even if it didn't register nationally. Now it's the biggest game in the country on Saturday, with two of the 10 best teams in the country, including one never-say-die Tennessee team that has been must-see TV since Week 1.

Alabama storyline: The Alabama defense has looked almost vulnerable in a pair of conference games this season. Ole Miss put up 43 points on the Tide, and last week, Arkansas got to 30. Those two results feel very un-Alabama like, but even in those games when they appear vulnerable, the defense has produced two defensive touchdowns in each.

Against Ole Miss, it was a pair of fumble return touchdowns. Against Arkansas, it was a fumble return and a pick-six. No team scores more off of turnovers than Alabama, and Tennessee turned it over seven times against Texas A&M. In other words, the Vols can be turned over, and no defense is better at capitalizing than the one they will face Saturday. The Tide's defense has tons of playmakers and talent, but they've showed that they will allow big plays at times. If that's the case again against Tennessee, they'll need to continue to put defensive points on the board.

Tennessee storyline: Can the Vols hold onto the football? There are a lot of things that Tennessee did well against Texas A&M, but if ball security doesn't improve against Alabama, none of it matters. As noted above, Alabama turns turnovers into points immediately and Tennessee won't have the margin for error to allow the Tide to score quick, easy points. To challenge Alabama, you have to make the Tide's offense drive the ball down the field and put up points consistently. It's the defense's responsibility to keep them out of the end zone, but it's the offense's job not to give Alabama a short field or direct points on the board.

Game pick: Alabama -13.5. As banged up as Tennessee is, as tired as they much feel after three straight grinders on the road, this is a game that the Vols believe they can win. This was a game that they had a year ago until the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter before Jake Coker nailed a couple of tough throws to put Tennessee away. Unfortunately, I don't think this worn-and-torn team is going to be able to make it to the six-minute mark against Alabama, a group that seems to reaching the peak of its powers at the right point in the season. Lane Kiffin will be ruthless picking on a beat up secondary in the second half, when I'm expecting to see at least one long Calvin Ridley touchdown on a play where Lane Kiffin has his hands in the air shortly after the snap.