“Can’t Miss” Tide Off the Mark
Jalin Hyatt will forever be a certified Vol legend after this performance. Photo via @Vol_Football
Throughout the 2022 season so far, the media has pegged Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama as a step above the rest of college football. The experts placed the Bulldogs, Buckeyes, and Crimson Tide in a sort of top tier, easily making the playoffs with everyone else looking in from the outside. In the span of a brutal 15 second period, the Crimson Tide went from being on the doorstep of a major victory to exiting this exclusive list.
Giving up the most points since 1907 (54 against Sewanee) and racking up, once again, a record amount of penalties (an incredible 17 for 130 yards), the 3rd ranked Crimson Tide missed a potentially game winning field goal and watched Tennessee and their master quarterback drive 45 yards in 15 seconds where their kicker hit a 40 yard knuckleball as time expired to lift the 6th ranked Vols to a dramatic 52-49 victory over their bitter rival. It was the first victory for Tennessee over Alabama in 15 years.
After uneven performances throughout the first month and a half, the Crimson Tide defense was torched (massive understatement) by quarterback Hendon Hooker to the tune of 385 yards and 5 touchdowns, all to wideout Jalin Hyatt who amassed 207 yards on just 6 catches. As has been the case throughout the past two seasons, the Alabama secondary had absolutely no answer to a solid passing attack. They failed on a constant basis to make plays, they gave up huge chunks of yards including touchdown passes of 60 and 78 yards, and once again were flagged for multiple pass interferences and holds throughout the contest. The Bama front seven had a rough afternoon as well, failing to get pressure on Hooker or slow down the Vols running attack, which racked up 182 yards on the ground. The Tide D managed only 3 stops for loss and a single sack on the afternoon, as the menacing linebacking crew of Anderson, Turner, and Braswell were held in check by the Volunteer front five.
Needless to say, it was one of the poorest performances of the Nick Saban era, as the Vol offense had their way all day. To pile on the blows against the Bama mystique, kicker Will Reichard, who was one of the most reliable kickers in recent Tide history, has now missed 3 of his last five attempts, with two bad misses that would have salted away last week’s game against Texas A&M, and he pushed right a 50 yard attempt, a distance well within his range, against the Vols with :15 remaining in the game that would have won it for the Tide. With the loss, Bama dropped to #6 while the Vols moved up to #3.
Meanwhile, Bryce Young made a masterful return from a shoulder injury against Arkansas and despite constant pressure from the Vol front seven, passed for 455 yards on a 35 for 52 attempt day, hitting two touchdown passes. The Tide receivers were led by tight end Cameron Latu’s 6 catch, 90 yard, 1 touchdown performance, but were again plagued by costly drops, none more than Jahmyr Gibbs’ drop with less than a minute to play as the Tide was driving for a winning field goal attempt. Gibbs was once again a star on the ground, scoring three touchdowns, but he will unfortunately be remembered in this game for his critical drop.
Before the game was 10 minutes old, Tennessee had scored 21 points to Bama’s 7 and the Tide had already racked up close to 50 yards in penalties. From the coaching staff all the way down, the Crimson Tide looked rattled as the raucous 101,915 inside Neyland Stadium smelled blood early on. After a nice Tide drive that resulted in a Reichard 21 yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-10, it got worse for Alabama at the start of the second quarter as the Tide defense actually got a stop and forced Tennessee into their only punt of the afternoon. Tide returner Kool-Aid McKinstry let the punt drop around the 40, and thinking Kool-Aid may have touched the punt, Tide special teamer Quandarrius Robinson bobbled an attempt to pick up the ball only to have it recovered by Tennessee. Three plays later, the Vols were in the endzone again and had a commanding 28-10 lead. Hats off to the Crimson Tide as they stiffened and scored the game’s next 10 points to head into halftime down only 28-20. For the half, Alabama actually outgained Tennessee 279 to 247 yards, amassing 17 first downs to the Vols 14.
The second half opened with Bama getting another stop and responding with a three play, 59 yard drive topped off with a Jahmyr Gibbs 26 yard touchdown run. A successful two point conversion knotted the score at 28. Three plays later, Tennessee found the end zone again on a 60 yard Hooker to Hyatt catch and run. A missed extra point left the score at 34-28 with 10:16 left in the 3rd. Bama would regain the lead at the 4:27 mark of the third, capping off a 12 play, 75 yard drive with a 2 yard Gibbs touchdown run to put the Tide back on top, 35-34. Tennessee opened the 4th quarter with a 3 play, 94 yard drive. This time, Hyatt burned the Tide secondary for a 78 yard touchdown pass from Hooker. The Vols hit the two point conversion to go back on top, 42-35 with 14:01 left in the contest. Young and company responded with a methodical 10 play, 75 yard drive and ended with a Latu 1 yard touchdown reception to knot things at 42.
The Tide appeared to swipe momentum from the Vols when linebacker Dallas Turner scooped up a Tennessee fumble and returned it untouched 11 yards to put the Tide in front 49-42 with 7:49 to play. Hooker drove the Vols down to the Tide 28 yard line and faced a 4th and 6. He appeared to throw a pick to McKinstry in the endone that was returned all the way to the Tennessee 18 yard line, but a controversial pass interference call gave Hooker new life. One play later, it was knotted at 49 on Hyatt’s fifth touchdown reception of the day with 3:26 to play. Young marched the Tide down to the Vol 30 with under a minute to go, yet instead of bleeding clock and forcing the Vols to use timeouts as well as getting the ball closer for a shorter game winning kick, offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien chose to throw three straight passes. All fell incomplete, including the critical Gibbs drop, and the Vols held onto two critical timeouts. Reichrad missed a 50 yard field goal from the right hash with :15 left to play, Bama chose to play soft coverage, Hooker hit two long passes and Vols kicker Chase McGrath hit a 40 yard field goal to send Rocky Top into a frenzy.
At this point in the season, the Tide is an ultra-talented, undisciplined squad who is not playing championship football. The corners and safeties continue to struggle mightily in pass coverage, and any team with a hot quarterback has a chance to take down the Tide. The sheer number of penalties assessed against this team is mind-boggling. Bama fans are up in arms about several controversial calls against the Tide on Saturday, most notably a hit to Bryce Young in the first half that certainly appeared to be targeting and the end zone pass interference call late in the fourth quarter that negated Kool-Aid McKinstry’s interception that would have iced the game for the Tide, yet controversial calls are a part of the game and it is what it is. Alabama players and coaches keep talking about playing to the “Alabama Standard'' of old. Those days are, at least for now, gone. The new Bama standard is shaping up to be a collection of 4 and 5 star players that can not seem to make key plays when needed being led by a coaching staff that is getting out coached way too often.
The good news is reminiscent of last year after the Tide’s 3 point loss to Texas A&M at about this time, Alabama is still in control of its destiny in the West, but there is no more room for error. With upcoming home games against Mississippi State, Austin Peay, and Auburn mixed in with tricky road contests at unbeaten and 7th ranked Ole Miss and a decent LSU squad, the Tide will be favored in all remaining games and if they get back to playing up to the “Alabama Standard,'' they should win all of their games and enter into the SEC title game in Atlanta in the same position as they were last year…win and they are in the playoffs. However, much has to be figured out inside the Alabama Football Complex before any thought of the SEC title game, let alone the College Football Playoff, can come to mind. It’s going to be a long week as Saban, O’Brien, defensive coordinator Pete Golding, and the entire Tide coaching staff will come under fire for the performance against Tennessee. Saturday night at home against a good Mississippi State team cannot come soon enough.