Quarterly Report

What follows is a quarter-by-quarter recap of Alabama's 29-9 defeat of Tennessee Saturday night at Neyland Stadium:

V

O

L

S

UT 0	Quarter 1 15:00	0 AL
JUMBO-VIEWER

Visiting Alabama took the opening kickoff and marched to the Tennessee 22-yard line before stalling and settling for a 39-yard Leigh Tiffin field goal. After a three-and-out by UT, Bama's Javier Arenas fumbled a punt when decked by LaMarcus Thompson. UT's Dennis Rogan recovered at the 5-yard line but a false-start penalty against Chris Scott and a sack killed the drive. Daniel Lincoln's 31-yard field goal tied the score at 3. After a 22-yard punt by Britton Colquitt, Bama drove to the Vol 26-yard line, and Tiffin knocked home a 43-yard field goal for a 6-3 Tide lead.
KEY PLAY
Arenas' fumbled punt. It gave the Vols a golden opportunity but they only got three points out of it.
KEY PLAYER
Tiffin. Bama's kicker accounted for two-thirds of the first-quarter scoring with his two field goals.
KEY STAT
Tennessee ran 12 plays, gained 11 net yards and posted zero first downs.

V

O

L

S

UT 3	Quarter 1 00:00	6 AL
JUMBO-VIEWER

A Tide punt was partially blocked by Montario Hardesty, giving Tennessee the ball at Bama's 32-yard line. Three plays lost three yards, however, and Lincoln came up short on a 51-yard field goal try. Bama zoomed 66 yards in six plays on the ensuing possession to go up 13-3. The big plays were pass completions of 19 and 35 yards from John Parker Wilson to freshman Julio Jones. UT marched to the Tide 14-yard line, then sustained two penalties and saw Lincoln miss a 43-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
KEY PLAY
On third-and-six at the Bama 19-yard line, Nick Stephens hit Lucas Taylor with a 10-yard pass to the Tide 9-yard line. Taylor was ruled guilty of offensive interference on the play (a very questionable call), turning first-and-goal at the 9 into third-and-21 at the 34. Lincoln missed his 51-yard field goal two plays later.
KEY PLAYER
Wilson. Bama's QB was 4 of 6 passing for 61 yards in the quarter.
KEY STAT
Bama was 0 of 3 on third-down conversions in the second quarter and 1 of 7 for the half, yet still held a 10-point lead.

V

O

L

S

UT 3	Quarter 2 00:00	13 AL
JUMBO-VIEWER

A 22-yard punt return by Arenas set up Bama at the Vol 33-yard line but the Tide had to settle for a 30-yard Tiffin field goal that widened the gap to 16-3. Bama drove 79 yards in 12 plays later in the quarter and Wilson sneaked over from a yard out for a 22-3 lead.
KEY PLAY
Eric Berry scooped up a Mark Ingram fumble and raced 47 yards for an apparent touchdown. Officials ruled Ingram was down before the ball popped loose, however. That proved to be a 13-point swing. Instead of a UT score that narrowed the gap to 16-10, Bama went on to complete a 79-yard drive that widened the gap to 22-3.
KEY PLAYER
Wilson again. The Tide QB was 5 of 5 passing for 54 yards.
KEY STAT
Bama outgained Tennessee 104 yards to 22 and posted 7 first downs to the Vols' 1.

V

O

L

S

UT 3	Quarter 3 00:00	22 AL
JUMBO-VIEWER

Bama drove 80 yards in eight plays and sealed Tennessee's doom when Roy Upchurch scored on a three-yard run that padded the lead to 29-3. Tennessee's offense finally showed a spark, marching 63 yards in seven plays and scoring on a 10-yard screen pass from Nick Stephens to Josh Briscoe. Bama then kept the ball for 14 consecutive plays to run out the clock.
KEY PLAY
A nine-yard pass from Wilson to Nick Walker, coupled with a 15-yard roughing-the-passer call against UT's Demonte Bolden, moved the ball from the Tide 32-yard line to the Vol 44, and Bama added an insurance TD five plays later.
KEY PLAYER
Upchurch. The Tide tailback carried nine times for 51 yards, enabling Bama to pad its lead and eat up most of the fourth quarter.
KEY STAT
A punishing ground game enabled Bama to keep the ball 11:57 to UT's 3:03 in the final quarter.

V

O

L

S

UT 9	Quarter 4 00:00	29 AL
JUMBO-VIEWER

More in-depth info...

Game #: 1151
Site: Knoxville
Date: Oct. 25
Conference: SECW
Coach Match-up:
For the Vols - Fulmer and for the Crimson Tide - Saban