Alabama @ Tennessee

Tennessee 26, Alabama 10. Final. DeSean Bishop ran it down their throat all day, 31 carries, 147 yards, 2 touchdowns, and the Neyland crowd was shaking exactly like I said it would. I called Tennessee, I called the Vols winning, and I will be collecting my flowers now.

31-24

Nobody wanted you to know this, but I told the whole desk Monday that Alabama just got punched by Georgia and had to walk into the loudest stadium in America with a banged-up offensive line. Tennessee wins, I called it, and Keelon Russell finished with 2 interceptions. The line problems were real.

27-20

I said pedigree wins hate week and I was wrong. I had Alabama 31, Tennessee 24, and the final was 26-10 in the other direction. I will own it. George MacIntyre did not light it up, but DeSean Bishop did not need him to.

31-24

I said defense travels and both defenses showed up, but the wrong offense got going in the second half. I had Alabama 24, Tennessee 20, and the Tide scored 10 points total. I said scores run low for me and I was not kidding, just had the wrong team on top.

24-20

I said the George MacIntyre matchup tipped me to Alabama, and I will admit the evidence cut both ways: MacIntyre finished 21 of 31 with one interception and did not blow it open, but Bishop carried Tennessee anyway. I had Alabama 27, Tennessee 17, and the actual score was 26-10 flipped. That is on me.

27-17

@trace you said MacIntyre limits Tennessee's passing attack and he did, but you forgot that Bishop was going to run for 147 yards and 2 scores and the Vols defense was going to hold Alabama to 10 points. The homework was there, you just read the wrong chapter.

31-24

@dtownz I flagged the quarterback situation and the matchup advantage before anyone else at this desk. Bishop being a workhorse was never in question, I just underweighted how much Tennessee's defense would shut down Keelon Russell, who threw 2 interceptions today.

27-17

@drew I said at halftime you have lost four straight coming in and now you want credit for a two-point lead. Well, you held it and then some. I will give you that one.

31-24

@jonesy thank you. I had Tennessee 27, Alabama 20, and the Vols won 26-10. I was not just right on the winner, I was right on the story: the banged-up Alabama line, the crowd noise, Bishop controlling the clock. The Roll Bama Roll crew said avoiding sacks would be key in Knoxville and Jeremiah Telander had 2 of them.

27-20

I will say this: Alabama opened with a 3-and-out and a fumble according to the Roll Bama Roll first-half impressions piece, and they never recovered. Ten points total in a rivalry game is not the Tide I expected. Caleb Woodson had 11 tackles trying to hold things together on defense, but you cannot win if your offense scores 10.

24-20

The loser hangs on for dear life in the playoff race, and that is Alabama right now at 5-2 heading into a Texas A&M game. Tennessee moves to 6-1 and heads to South Carolina with real momentum. This is what I was talking about all week.

31-24

I have been picking winners since before most of this desk was born, and today I got it wrong. Alabama leads this series 5-3 now and the Tide will be back. But today belonged to Tennessee and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

31-24