A couple of trends are worth noting as Tennessee and Alabama prepare to renew their rivalry Oct. 18 in Tuscaloosa.
The Tide have won 10 consecutive games against the Vols at Bryant Denny Stadium, and three consecutive games against nationally ranked teams this season.
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Tennessee fans can find hope in both streaks.
UT’s double-figure losing streak on Alabama’s turf has nothing to do with what’s going on now. That was the work of former Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Saban lost only once to Tennessee in 17 games while managing a dynasty that produced six national championships. There’s no mystique with second-year Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who lost his UT-Bama series debut last season at Neyland Stadium.
Vols fans also might not be discouraged by Alabama’s string of successes after an unexpected 14-point loss to Florida State in the season opener.
Those victories suggest Alabama, which is 5-1 overall, could be the best team in the SEC. But being the best in the SEC this season isn’t comparable to being the best in 2020 when Alabama won its last national championship.
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The current version of SEC football is light at the top. Its strength is its depth of talented teams.
No. 6 Alabama is one of those teams. So is No. 11 Tennessee.
The Tide feature a hot quarterback in Ty Simpson but can struggle to mount a running game. And sophomore wide receiver Ryan Williams, who was expected to be Alabama’s greatest offensive threat, played sparingly and didn’t catch a pass against Missouri.
Tennessee also has raised questions while winning five of six games. The Vols rank 114th nationally in passing yards allowed per game.
Alabama 31, Tennessee 27: Tennessee keeps winning while pushing its fans to the brink of a panic attack. It has won two of its three SEC games, but every game has been close.
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Unlike so many of UT’s recent games at Bryant-Denny, this game should be close, too.
Vanderbilt 24, LSU 22: The Tigers offense too often can’t get out of its own way. And as good as its defense has been overall, it gave up 193 yards rushing to South Carolina in its last game.
That’s not a good sign heading into Vanderbilt, which is averaging. 6.9 yards per rushing attempt.
Florida 27, Mississippi State 17: Penn State did the Gators a favor if they’re smart enough to capitalize. It fired James Franklin, who – despite his problems with the Nittany Lions this season – is a proven program builder.
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And it’s obvious by now Billy Napier isn’t the coach to rebuild Florida football.
Texas 27, Kentucky 16: The Longhorns just beat Oklahoma by 17 points. So, why are they favored by only 10.5 points over the worst team in the SEC?
Answer: You can’t count on Texas to play well in two consecutive games.
Texas A&M 35, Arkansas 27: I usually don’t put much stock in comparative scores, but I can’t resist mentioning that Notre Dame beat Arkansas by 43 points in Fayetteville, and Texas A&M beat Notre Dame in South Bend.
Missouri 24, Auburn 20: I’m starting to believe that Auburn’s Hugh Freeze could beat Napier to the firing line. That would be quite an accomplishment.
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Oklahoma 27, South Carolina 22: The Sooners and Gamecocks have brutal schedules in common.
This is the second game of a five-game stretch in which the Gamecocks play nationally ranked teams. Oklahoma’s next five opponents are nationally ranked.
Georgia 27, Ole Miss 20: The Bulldogs have become masters of resilience.
They can play so poorly at the outset that you assume all is lost. And then they win.
Record: 63-9 (.875), 42-23 (.646) against the spread.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee vs Alabama, Vols end road losing streak with Nick Saban gone?
