Usually, Tennessee and Alabama meet on the Third Saturday in October every season. That’s how the tradition goes, at least. However, the 2021 matchup between the teams falls on a special year, in which the game will be on the Fourth Saturday in October.
Tennessee is now past the halfway point of the season, with only one week remaining until the Vols’ bye week. The Volunteers are sitting at 4-3 on the year, with two wins and two losses in the SEC. Tennessee was blown out by Florida in Week 4, and took a close loss to Ole Miss at home in Week 7. However, the Vols did dominate both South Carolina and Missouri for their two conference wins.
However, Tennessee will face its toughest matchup to date this season on Saturday night. Tennessee will face Alabama for the first time in the Josh Heupel era, which is something that the Vols’ coach is looking forward to.
“For us, it’s really important that we continue to build the culture and build our program,” Heupel said on Wednesday. “Absolutely, it’s important to get a win in this football game and rivalry between the two schools. For us, it’s about controlling the controllables, continuing to grow, continuing to prepare the right way. Our players continue to get better week-by-week and this is our next opportunity.”
Additionally, Alabama HC Nick Saban also spoke about the rivalry between Tennessee and the Tide.
“Well, you can say it however you wanna say it, but it’s significant if you don’t have success in the game because it’s significant to a lot of people and what happened the last however many years you talked about will have no impact on this game at all and the only thing that matters is what happens now,” Saban said on Wednesday according to 247. “So for now, this week, it’s a rivalry game to me, and I hope it is to everybody in our organization.”
Below is all the key information leading into Tennessee and No. 4 Alabama this Saturday night.
How to Watch – Tennessee @ Alabama:
- Start Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Online Streaming: WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN App
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
Odds and Statistics
- Fanduel Sportsbook
- Spread: Tennessee +24.5 (-105)/Alabama -24.5 (-115)
- Moneyline: Tennessee +1300/Alabama -4500
- Total: Over/Under 68.5 (-110)
- DraftKings
- Spread: Tennessee +24.5 (-105)/Alabama -24.5 (-115)
- Moneyline: N/A
- Total: Over 68.5 (-105)/Under 68.5 (-115)
- ESPN‘s Football Power Index also gives Tennessee an 8.8 percent chance to win, according to their database’s algorithm.
Previous Matchups
Alabama leads the all-time series 58-38-7.
- 10/24/2020 – Knoxville – Alabama 48 @ Tennessee 17
- 10/19/2019 – Tuscaloosa – Tennessee 13 @ Alabama 35
- 10/20/2018 – Knoxville – Alabama 58 @ Tennessee 21
- 10/21/2017 – Tuscaloosa – Tennessee 7 @ Alabama 45
- 10/15/2016 – Knoxville – Alabama 49 @ Tennessee 10
Stat Leaders
Tennessee:
- Passing: Hendon Hooker – 95/138, 1296 yards, 14 TD, 1 INT
- Rushing: Tiyon Evans – 73 carries, 486 yards, 6 TD
- Receiving: Velus Jones Jr – 28 receptions, 435 yards, 3 TD
Alabama:
- Passing: Bryce Young – 156/224, 2082 yards, 24 TD, 3 INT
- Rushing: Brian Robinson Jr – 116 carries, 599 yards, 8 TD
- Receiving: Jameson Williams – 29 receptions, 587 yards, 6 TD
2021 Records
Tennessee (4-3, 2-2 SEC)
- Week 1 – W – vs Bowling Green 38-6
- Week 2 – L – vs Pittsburgh 41-34
- Week 3 – W – vs Tennessee Tech 56-0
- Week 4 – L – @ Florida 38-14
- Week 5 – W – @ Missouri 62-24
- Week 6 – W – vs South Carolina 45-20
- Week 7 – L – vs Ole Miss 31-26
Alabama (6-1, 3-1 SEC)
- Week 1 – W – vs Miami 44-13
- Week 2 – W – vs Mercer 48-14
- Week 3 – W – @ Florida 31-29
- Week 4 – W – vs Southern Miss 63-14
- Week 5 – W – vs Ole Miss 42-14
- Week 6 – L – @ Texas A&M 41-38
- Week 7 – W – @ Mississippi State 49-9
