KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A parade of fans arrived to give Athletic Director Danny White fist pumps and request selfies. One Tennessee support staff member entered the tunnel with a cigar in hand and tears in his eyes.
Many fans dug up the grass, especially the most prized pieces of grass under the midfield Power T and under the orange checkerboards in the end zones, and took them home as souvenirs. There are some stuffed animal patches in the pocket.
“Hey, there’s a cigar in there!” several players shouted, pointing into the locker room and trotting out to find them after No. 11 Tennessee beat No. 7 Alabama 24-17.
One fan stopped as soon as he got on the field and video-called his father. Another fan wearing checkered overalls jumped over a wall and landed with both feet on the Neyland Stadium turf. One strap of his overalls had come off, and there was a fresh cigar burn on his shoulder.
“We are baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” he yelled.
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Two years after ending a 15-game losing streak against a rival, fans returned to the field to smoke cigars after defeating Alabama. Tennessee’s playoff hopes were hurt by a road loss to Arkansas earlier this month, but were given a boost with a win over a top-10 opponent.
In 2022, the University of Tennessee was ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Selection Committee’s initial rankings, but losses to South Carolina and Georgia kept the Vols from qualifying. Two years later, Josh Heupel’s team seems to be able to guarantee that season wasn’t a one-hit wonder on Rocky Top.
And despite a disastrous first half, the Vols’ offense still managed to win the game again, despite being held scoreless in the first half for the first time in three consecutive games since John F. Kennedy took office. Ta.
“With this program, when you walk on the field, you feel like you’re good enough to win every Saturday,” Heupel said.
The University of Tennessee defeated the University of Alabama for the second straight time at Neyland Stadium. (Butch Dill/Getty Images)
That hasn’t been the case over the past 20 years, especially against Alabama. From 2007 until that night two seasons ago, Alabama had beaten Tennessee by less than 20 points just three times. They outscored the Vols by more than 30 points eight times.
The University of Alabama may no longer be the standard in college football, but it is the standard. Tennessee endured another nightmarish first half and played sluggishly, but still prevailed against its main rival, who is ranked in the top 10. There may be no surer sign of program progress.
And in an era where the playoffs have been expanded to 12 teams, nights like Saturday could give Tennessee a much wider path to getting into the bracket and lessen the impact of shocking losses like the one against Arkansas State. do. You can’t count wins in advance in a season like this, but the Vols only have two teams on their schedule with winning records: Georgia and Vanderbilt.
“Our players are aware. I wish we could put the blinders on,” Heupel said. “We still have work to do defensively. No, we have a lot more things to take care of offensively. Good teams get better, and this team has to keep getting better.”
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The good news for Tennessee’s struggling offense is that Saturday’s halftime goose egg looked much more shaky than it did when it totaled 51 first-half yards against Arkansas and just over 100 yards against Florida. . Tennessee reached Alabama on four first-half drives, entering the red zone twice, but missed two field goals, Dylan Sampson’s first career fumble and quarterback Niko Iamareaba’s attempted throw. The game was settled with an intercepted pass.
Imareaba missed multiple open receivers and could have gotten Tennessee’s fast-break offense back on track with a haymaker touchdown, but instead the Vols gained 143 yards of offense in the first half and took a 7-0 lead. .
“I missed a shot to score,” Imareaba said. “If we can hit that, our offense will flow better and feel like a whole different type of thing. We’ve got to be better. But I’m proud of how we bounced back.”
Tennessee outscored Alabama 408-314 after scoring 24 points in the second half, and Sampson finished the game with 139 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
“A win is a win in this league. The margins are tight,” Heupel said. “It’s not that far away, 102,000 people tuned in. Everyone on TV. So were we. But it’s not that far away. That’s why you have to be grateful when things are going really well. It is.”
Defense is the Vols’ most stable force. The Vols bothered and harassed Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe between whistles, and the capacity crowd took care of the rest, especially when the Crimson Tide needed a late touchdown to overturn the result. did.
“The last few drives, it was too loud to set up pass protection,” linebacker Arion Carter said.
The Vols entered the night ranked second in the nation in defensive yards per play, forcing 12 different quarterbacks for a whopping three sacks, picking off Milroe twice, and adding six tackles for loss. I smoked it.
Tennessee is flawed. But look at a day in college football. So do others.
Tennessee’s sudden and precipitous decline in offensive power was one of the most interesting developments of the season, but its playoff hopes are still very much alive nonetheless. And every game first-year starter Imareaba plays means more experience for the five-star prospect, who returned to action after missing the first half with a hip injury. It will be.
The Vols didn’t play well on Saturday. Either way, they wrote another unforgettable chapter in one of the SEC’s most enduring rivalries.
After the game, Heupel was finishing up his time with reporters when he noticed a coughing fit and stopped taking questions. It was a cigar, he said.
“I’m going to go fight them someday,” Heupel said. “Another great night at Rocky Top.”
(Top photo: Bryan Lynn / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
