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The Tuscaloosa News
Tennessee played ugly, but Alabama football played uglier in 24-17 loss | Goodbread
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- Tennessee played ugly, but Alabama football played uglier in 24-17 loss | Goodbread
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. − Tennessee played ugly.
Alabama football played a little uglier.
And when all the ugliness finally settled on the Neyland Stadium turf, making one less gaffe was enough for the home Volunteers to claim the 2024 edition of the Third Saturday in October rivalry: Tennessee 24, Alabama 17 .
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For new coach Kalen DeBoer, of course, absorbing a second loss in the Crimson Tide 's last three games has placed his first season in great postseason peril. There is a tall pile of corrections for UA's coaching staff to sift through on Sunday, and still some tall orders left on the Alabama schedule. The Crimson Tide 's hopes for a berth in the College Football Playoff's new 12-team field, at this point, demand a win in every game for the rest of the regular season, and it looks nothing like a team primed to do so.
For Alabama, the whiff of Tennessee's victory cigars smelled an awful lot like its own miscues.
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A full accounting of Alabama's blunders in the loss would have to begin with quarterback Jalen Milroe 's inexplicable first-quarter interception in the Tennessee end zone on a pass intended for freshman Ryan Williams , returned 54 yards by Tennessee's Jermod McCoy . He's had a couple of interceptions this season that weren't his fault, but this one was squarely on the fourth-year junior. From there, the list of Alabama miscues would proceed to a whopping 10 penalty flags in the first half alone, including three false starts, two personal fouls and Milroe's second flag for intentional grounding in as many weeks. One penalty that hurt as much as any: a defensive holding call on cornerback Dominic Jackson that moved the chains on a third down for UT, which then capitalized for a touchdown and a 21-17 lead. And as if that weren't enough, UA receiver Kendrick Law committed an inexcusable personal foul after an incomplete pass that pushed Alabama's desperation drive in the final two minutes from a fourth-and-7 to an impossible fourth-and-22.
Alabama ended up being flagged 15 times for 115 yards; a stark reminder that the last time the Crimson Tide came to Neyland Stadium it was penalized 17 times in a loss.
Tennessee's self-inflicted pain hurt, too.
The Volunteers did all they could to keep 100,000-plus fans quiet with three first-half turnovers, including a pair of interceptions by Alabama's Malachi Moore and freshman cornerback Jalen Mbakwe. Throw in a pair of missed field goals (Alabama had one of those itself), and Tennessee's offense found itself with a zero on the scoreboard at halftime for its third game in a row.
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It all amounted to a crimson and orange mash-up of mistakes that refused to let a great rivalry have what anyone would call a great game. But in a contest that turned on which team would make one too many errors, it was Alabama that made it.
Tennessee got away with more than its share of oops but managed to notch a win in the Alabama-Tennessee series for the second time in three years. It's a storied series, but not every installment is storybook stuff.
This certainly wasn't, and Alabama largely has itself to blame for its cigars coming home unlit.
Tuscaloosa News sport columnist Chase Goodbread.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Tennessee played ugly, but Alabama football played uglier in 24-17 loss
