Tennessee football landed at 10th in the Southeastern Conference following Saturday. Alabama buried the Volunteers at that spot following its 37-20 romp Saturday.
Josh Heupel and his team walked into Tuscaloosa with a golden opportunity to damage the Crimson Tide's momentum. A victory would've increased the Vols' stakes of landing in the SEC title game by season's end.
But ‘Bama is back near the front of the driver's seat in the race for the conference championship. Tennessee native and Tide quarterback Ty Simpson even relished beating the hometown university.
Meanwhile, the Vols are picking up the pieces from a dismal 17-point defeat. And that includes addressing these areas that got exposed by Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide.
Tennessee trenches must be reevaluated
The front five had trouble containing the relentless speed of the Tide defense.
Joey Aguilar struggled pushing the ball downfield. Alabama even prevented Tennessee from crossing midfield in the first quarter by forcing two early punts.
Yhonzae Pierre exposed the pass protection the most for ‘Bama. He went on the collect three sacks by knifing through the inside of the tackle's shoulders.
James Smith added one sack on Aguilar. This Vols offensive line looked nothing like the unit that didn't surrender a sack against Arkansas. Now Heupel must adjust before opponents turn to a similar blueprint Alabama delivered.
Joey Aguilar threw a costly interception
Obviously Aguilar didn't get the benefit of stout protection throughout the evening — including taking a safety on a Pierre sack.
But Zabien Brown took back his final second quarter pass 99 yards the other way.
SABIAN BROWN WITH A 100-YARD PICK SIX 🤯
ALABAMA TAKES A 23-7 LEAD AT HALFTIME OVER TENNESSEE!
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 19, 2025
Heupel first became detested about the pick.
“End of the first half, nine seconds, no timeouts, you're left with a decision: Do you want two opportunities or one? So, we got a little play action, he leaves the ball inside a little bit, and it goes back for six. Big play in the football game for sure,” Heupel told reporters.
He added how Heupel must be “more accurate” with those type of decisions moving forward. But he added how he's also at fault for the pick, as it became a play he called.
Tennessee failed to exploit this Alabama weakness
The Volunteers entered facing a struggling pass protection unit. Missouri exposed Alabama not long ago by snatching a quartet of sacks on Simpson, despite falling 27-24 the previous week.
The Vols never got to Simpson once.
He earned significant time to throw and picked apart this defense in the end. Simpson settled for 253 yards and two touchdowns.
Tennessee will need to reignite its pass rush, then fix the other trenches, if the Vols still have the SEC title in mind. Alabama's win decreased the Vols' chances of playing in Atlanta on Dec. 6 or even pursue a College Football Playoff spot.
