Tide Will Rise in Defensive Battle

The annual college football game between Alabama and Tennessee used to be dubbed “The Third Saturday in October” because from 1928 through 1994 the game was always played on that date, except for 1943 because of World War II. But when the Southeastern Conference expanded its schedule, the game started winding up on the fourth Saturday in October. This will be on the fourth Saturday in October for the ninth time in the last 14 years when the Tide and Volunteers meet in Tuscaloosa at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Despite tradition being shoved aside, there’s still something special about the Alabama-Tennessee football rivalry. This year’s game has the added luster of Alabama (7-0, 4-0 SEC) being ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. So, the Vols (3-3, 1-2) can make their season by knocking off the Crimson Tide.

You would think that would get the usually talkative Lane Kiffin to say something provocative – OK, controversial – but the first-year Tennessee head coach has been on his best behavior this week. In other words, there’s no bulletin board material Alabama head coach Nick Saban can use to get his team motivated – as if they needed any.

Kiffin actually was quite complimentary of Alabama during his media conference earlier this week.

“We're going to have to do everything right to have a chance to make this matchup competitive again,” Kiffin said. “We are excited about the challenge. I think it fits our personality as a staff and as a team. These are the types of challenges that we like to have. We have to … practice extremely physical because this is a very physical team. This is a team that comes at you downhill on both sides of the ball and hits you in the mouth. I love the style, the way that they play and what they do. They are really a model for the direction we are going."

Saban sidestepped questions about the rivalry simply sounding his mantra about the game being important because of its significance on the outcome of the Tide’s season.

Alabama junior linebacker Rolando McClain echoed his coach’s sentiments. “It’s a big game, but like I said before, we’re not going to overhype the game,” McClain said “We’re just going to keep our composure and not get overwhelmed with who we’re playing and the circumstances behind it. We’re just going to try to go out and play our type of football.”

Pretty boring, bland stuff for a rivalry game such as Alabama-Tennessee.

Much of the talk this week has centered around what kind of defense 69-year-old Tennessee defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin will throw at struggling Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy and whether Alabama’s defense will shut down Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton, coming off his impressive performance (310 yards passing, four TDs) against Georgia two weeks ago.

The other topic of conversation has been whether Alabama running back Mark Ingram, considered the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy in one poll, and Tennessee running back Montario Hardesty would be able to run the ball well enough to take some pressure off their respective quarterbacks.

So, what we’re looking at is a defensive tussle. Given that Alabama already has shut down quarterbacks such as Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor, Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, Ole Miss’ Jevan Stead and South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia, I don’t any reason why the Tide won’t put a chokehold on Crompton.

Besides, Alabama has allowed only 36 points in four SEC games, so with the defenses expected to dominate, I give the edge to the Tide … Alabama 23, Tennessee 13.