When Tennessee and Alabama meet for the Third Saturday in October this year, it’ll be under the lights. And the game may not end until Sunday.
The Vols (1-4, 0-2 SEC) will travel to No. 1 Alabama (5-0, 2-0 SEC) on Saturday, October 19th in Tuscaloosa. The two bitter SEC rivals will kick off at one of the latest time slots available for east coast teams, beginning play at 9:00 PM Eastern. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Tennessee hasn’t beaten Alabama on the football field in well over a decade, and Saturday’s match-up isn’t likely to end that streak, either. The Vols have lost 12-straight games to the Crimson Tide, and they’re winless against Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Last year, the Tide stomped Tennessee in Knoxville, handing the Vols a 58-21 beating. That 37-point loss was only one point short of the Vols’ 38-point loss on the road against Alabama the season prior in 2017.
Alabama has cruised to a perfect 5-0 mark to start the season, and they’ve reclaimed their throne as the No. 1 team in college football after Clemson, the previous No. 1, hasn’t played all that sharp to start the year.
The Tide haven’t necessarily been challenged to start this season. They’ve won every game by at least 24 points, and they own victories over Duke, New Mexico State, South Carolina, Southern Miss, and Ole Miss. Alabama has the second-best scoring offense in the SEC, the second-best passing offense, the second-best total offense, the third-best passing defense, and the fourth-best scoring defense in 2019.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is still searching for their first win over an FBS opponent this season.
The Vols turned to true freshman quarterback Brian Maurer on Saturday against No. 3 Georgia, and he gave some life to a struggle Tennessee offense. Maurer finished 14-of-28 for 259 yards, two touchdowns, an interception, and a fumble in his first career start.
Tennessee has a match-up with Mississippi State in Neyland Stadium this Saturday before taking on Alabama, and the Tide will face No. 24 Texas A&M on the road in College Station before hosting the Vols.
All-time, Alabama is 56-37-8 against Tennessee, including winning the last 12 games against the Vols. Only two of those contests (2009, 2015) has seen the final scoring margin be within two scores. The Tide have beaten the Vols by an average of score of 37.8 to 12.3 during their 12-game winning streak.
