No. 8 Tennessee (5-0, 2-0 SEC) will host No. 1 Alabama (6-0, 3-0 SEC) Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Week 7.
Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EDT. CBS will televise the Southeastern Conference matchup.
The matchup will be Josh Heupel’s second against the Crimson Tide as Tennessee’s head coach.
Heupel served as UCF’s head coach from 2018-20 before being in the same capacity with the Vols.
Anthony Tucker served as running backs coach (2018-20) under Heupel at UCF. Tucker also served as passing game coordinator (2019) and co-offensive coordinator (2020) under Heupel with the Knights.
Tucker serves as Utah State’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022. Alabama defeated Utah State, 55-0, in Week 1 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Following Alabama’s win against Utah State, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban discussed playing the Aggies and the challenges they present. Utah State runs offensive uptempo, wide splits and is attacking like Heupel.
“I was really pleased with the way the players approached this game,” Saban said. “I thought we had good energy. I thought we had good intensity. We had good preparation throughout the week. They’re sort of challenging with some of the things that they do.
“No disrespect to Utah State, their players played hard, they have a good team. We’re going to play teams that are much more physical, aggressive and talented than what they are, so we are going to have to do things correctly and it is going to be important for guys to understand that.”
Ahead of the Tennessee-Alabama game, Vols Wire provides analysis of the Crimson Tide’s defensive personnel and how they played against Utah State, and how they could perform against bigger, more athletic players and a scheme similar to Heupel, like Saban was alluding to.