Neither No. 6 Alabama nor No. 14 Tennessee is coming off a particularly great performance entering their matchup Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Crimson Tide (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) sustained their first loss last week, a 20-17 home defeat against now-No. 1 Georgia, while the Volunteers (5-1, 2-1) escaped with a 24-17 road win over lowly Arkansas.
One team will get the boost of a “Third Saturday in October” rivalry win this weekend. And the winning team will do so despite a major question about its offense.
Alabama is expected to be without leading receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, who sustained head and knee injuries against Georgia. He has a team-high 415 receiving yards and four touchdown catches this season. Over the past three seasons, he has amassed 1,969 yards and 16 TDs, with the latter tied for ninth most in program history.
“Pretty good chance we wouldn’t have him here this weekend,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday. “I think he would be probably week-to-week after that.”
Lotzeir Brooks (389 yards, one TD) and Rico Scott (224 yards, three TDs) are options to fill the void for quarterback Keelon Russell, who looks to bounce back after he had a career low in completion percentage (53.3%) and a season low in passing yards (185) with only one touchdown pass against the Bulldogs. Russell threw for 10 touchdowns across the prior three games.
“I like the direction he continues to go,” DeBoer said of Russell. “These experiences just continue to add up and stack on themselves in a positive way.”
There is not the same level of confidence in the Tennessee quarterback room entering the matchup.
George MacIntyre made his first career start at Arkansas with freshman Faizon Brandon sidelined due to a shoulder injury. MacIntyre completed 18 of 29 passes for 247 yards with one TD and two interceptions.
Volunteers coach Josh Heupel was non-committal at his Monday press conference about who would get the start under center against the Crimson Tide.
“We’ll find out here through the week,” Heupel said. “We get on the grass (Tuesday) and we’ll work towards Saturday.”
However, the coach did praise aspects of MacIntyre’s performance.
“I thought he was decisive with the football,” Heupel said. “He was going to the right spot, made some plays, did some things inside of the pocket that were really positive.
“… (Having live reps) certainly helps. It helps everybody. The more reps you get, the better prepared you are.”
Tennessee ranks 15th nationally in rushing offense (228.3 yards per game), led by DeSean Bishop’s 678 rushing yards and eight TDs. However, the Volunteers are 110th in passing offense (186.5 ypg), last among SEC teams.
Alabama’s offense, despite playing five of its first six games against Power Four opponents, ranks 13th nationally in yards per play (7.00).
After the Crimson Tide were held to 346 yards in the loss to Georgia, Tennessee’s defense presents another challenge. The Volunteers rank 19th nationally in scoring defense (15.5 points per game) and have more interceptions (five) than passing touchdowns allowed (three) at the midway point of the regular season.
The home team has won this rivalry game each of the past five seasons, with Alabama pulling out a 37-20 win last year.
Alabama hopes to extend a streak of never losing consecutive games in the same season during DeBoer’s 2 1/2-year tenure.
