Rivalry games tend to carry a little added edge, but when No. 1 Alabama travels to Knoxville this week, more attention will be on star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. After suffering a knee injury last week against Missouri, it was unclear just how severe the injury was for the Hawaiian star. But after coach Nick Saban said the sophomore would be able to practice, a collective sigh of relief could be heard from Tuscaloosa.
Now, the Crimson Tide heads into its "Third Saturday in October" matchup with the Vols looking to keep the machine running, but can't overlook the sudden upstart program.
Tennessee is fresh off an emphatic 30-24 win over Auburn inside a hostile atmosphere at Jordan-Hare Stadium. First-year coach Jeremy Pruitt will be taking on his former boss in the hopes of becoming the first Saban assistant to knock off the legendary coach.
Let's preview this rivalry showdown on Saturday afternoon.
Viewing information
Date: Saturday, Oct. 20 | Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Neyland Stadium -- Knoxville, Tennessee
TV: CBS | Live stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, fuboTV (try for free)
Storylines
Alabama: Tagovailoa will be back under center this week, but last week's drama showed more about how much Jalen Hurts has improved as a passer than anything else. We also saw some wrinkles put into the game plan, including Hurts taking a jet sweep hand off, stopping on a designed reverse and throwing a screen pass. Tagovailoa followed it up on the very next play by completing a pass to Hurts. All of this has been written to illustrate a point -- Alabama has been purposely vanilla on offense for most of the year, and has plenty more of the playbook to unleash. What better time than in a rivalry game?
The Crimson Tide defense held the high-octane Missouri defense to just 212 yards and 3.48 yards per play -- its best performance of the year. Quinnen Williams has established himself as one of the nation's top defensive lineman, the secondary hasn't missed a beat despite the loss of Trevon Diggs and it appears to be business as usual in T-Town.
Tennessee: Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano had the game of his career on the Plains, throwing for 328 yards and two touchdowns. What was even more impressive than Guarantano was the Volunteers wide receiving corps. Jauan Jennings, Josh Palmer and Marquez Callaway all made NFL-caliber catches throughout the afternoon to help Guarantano pull off the upset. The Vols lost defensive end Jonathan Kongbo to a season-ending injury last week, but still kept Auburn in check -- which isn't tough to do these days.
Game prediction, picks
If you're into sweating late garbage touchdowns and field goals that are of interest to Las Vegas, Alabama has been your team. The Crimson Tide are 1-3 against the spread in their last four games, with the gambling outcome of all four coming down to the final minutes. This game will be no different. Alabama will run over, around and through the Volunteers long enough to build a comfortable lead, but Saban will take his foot off the gas. As was the case with Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and Billy Napier at Louisiana-Lafayette, Saban will do all that he can not to embarrass his former assistants. Alabama will win comfortably, but Saban will choose not to cover. Pick: Tennessee +28.5
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