One of the rarest things in college football happened on Saturday in Knoxville. Alabama lost.  The Crimson Tide went back and forth with rival Tennessee in an instant classic at Neyland Stadium. In the end, the Volunteers shocked the college football world by upsetting the Tide 52-49 and snapping their 15-game losing streak in the rivalry.

Alabama may have put up an outstanding fight, but a loss is still a loss. The Tide are undoubtedly still a contender for the SEC, College Football Playoff and national championship, but their margin for error just got a lot smaller. With big rivalry matchups still ahead, Nick Saban's team will have to be perfect the rest of the way.

Alabama had a couple of dangerously close calls earlier in the season, namely against Texas and Texas A&M. The Tide were able to escape against inferior competition, but not against Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt and the Vols.

Without further ado, let's go over some key takeaways from Alabama's loss to Tennessee.

3. Alabama's defense isn't that great

Alabama has consistently fielded incredible defenses over Saban's time in Tuscaloosa. The Tide finished top five in scoring and total defense every year from 2009 to 2018, and have still remained very strong in recent years. They have also produced many defensive stars, with Minkah Fitzpatrick and Patrick Surtain II being two recent examples.

Many expected more of the same this year, and for good reason. Alabama has the best defensive player in the country in Will Anderson, plus other stars such as Dallas Turner and Jordan Battle. The Tide had a strong start to the season, not allowing 30 points in any of their first six games, but the defense had a rude awakening on Saturday.

Hooker and the Tennessee offense tore up Alabama's defense for 567 total yards and 52 points. Hooker averaged 12.4 yards per completion, while the Vols' running game racked up 4.7 yards per carry. Yes, Tennessee' offense is fantastic, but Alabama should be able to rise to the challenge and contain it and that just didn't happen.

The Tide's defense has rarely cost them in the Saban era, but that's exactly what happened on Saturday. This unit will need to get back on track soon, or the Tide won't be in the playoff this season.

2. Bryce Young is still amazing

With Young missing Alabama's previous game against Texas A&M with an injury and backup Jalen Milroe delivering a lackluster performance, Tide fans realized they needed their star quarterback to beat Tennessee. Fortunately for Alabama, Young's health improved throughout the week, and he was good enough to start on Saturday. Alabama may have lost, but Young did everything he could to will the team to a win.

The reigning Heisman winner looked as good as ever, completing 35-of-52 passes for a season-high 455 yards and two touchdowns. Young showed no lingering signs of injury and kept Alabama in the game while the defense struggled. If the Tide had just one or two more bounces go their way, everyone would be talking about Young as the clear Heisman favorite after such a stellar performance.

This loss stings badly, but Alabama is still in a good place with Young under center. As long as he's playing well, the Tide can beat any team in the country.

1. The Crimson Tide are very undisciplined

Talk about a sentence that no one expected to ever hear. A Sabam-led team playing undisciplined sounds impossible, but that's exactly what has happened this season.

Flags bit the Tide badly on Saturday, as they committed 17 penalties for 130 yards. Those 17 penalties are a school record, and definitely not in a good way. Saban even said the Tide have to be better immediately following the game.

“The big thing that our players need to do is learn from this experience, have more respect for playing with discipline so we don’t get penalties, we don’t help the other team, we don’t make mental errors that help the other team,” Saban said, per Joy Russo of Sports Illustrated.

The thing is, this isn't the first time this season that Alabama has had massive penalty issues. The Tide picked up 15 flags for 100 yards at Texas on September 10, then suffered 10 penalties for 101 yards at Arkansas three weeks later. What do these three games have in common? They're all road games.

Even at home, though, Alabama has still had penalty issues, with six flags in each of its first four home games. In fact, the Tide's average of 9.4 penalties per game ranks fourth-worst in the entire FBS.

Alabama was lucky to escape with such sloppy play earlier in the season, but their luck ran out on Saturday. Saban needs to get his team to limit mistakes, or this won't be the last loss Alabama endures in 2022.