KNOXVILLE — No. 2 Alabama (5-0, 5-0 SEC) defeated Tennessee, 48-17, in Week 5 of a 10-game SEC-only schedule Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Following the game, third-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt discussed its annual rivalry contest with the Crimson Tide.
“Looking at the game, I thought offensively it was one of the better games we played,” Pruitt said. “We did have one turnover for a touchdown, which is inexcusable, but we started running the ball at times pretty well. I thought we protected pretty well for the most part, but just didn’t have the time of possession Alabama had, which goes back to the defense about getting off the field and being more stout in the run game and getting off the field on third down.”
Pruitt mentioned that he saw “a lot of guys that are trying really hard, but we’re making mistakes.”
“As coaches and players, we’ve got to go back and be able to execute at a higher level,” Pruitt said. “A lot of guys were playing really hard, we just made mistakes in the game as far as over routes and giving up explosive plays like that. We have always been pretty good about not doing that and haven’t given up many this year, but today we did, and it’s tough to stop those guys when they start on the play action passes and being able to throw the overs.
“You’ve got to be able to do one or the other, whether it’s stop the run or stop passes, so it doesn’t make it so tough to defend. We have to get off the field on third down. When I look at third down, most of it, I’m not saying we would have stopped them if we did it exactly right, but from an execution level we are nowhere where we need to be.”
Alabama’s offense totaled 587 yards (417 passing, 170 rushing) on 76 plays against Tennessee.
The Vols totaled 302 yards (163 passing, 139 rushing) against Alabama.