Alabama Football: 3 overreactions to win over Tennessee in Week 8

Alabama Football notched its 13th straight win over rival Tennessee in the Third Saturday in October, but lost Tua Tagovailoa to injury in the process.

The usual jubilation for Alabama football fans that comes with a rivalry win, particularly when that rival is the hated Tennessee Volunteers, was immediately replaced with concern on Saturday night.

While cigar smoke filled the air at Bryant-Denny Stadium and wafted up toward the fancy new LED lights, fans couldn’t help but let their minds wander toward Tua Tagovailoa’s injury and what that means for his future, and that of a team with national championship aspirations.

Tagovailoa left the game against Tennessee in the second quarter with an ankle injury. He was quickly ruled out for the game, and on Sunday he underwent a “tightrope” procedure, the same one he had on the other ankle after the SEC Championship game win over Georgia last season.

Tagovailoa has already been ruled out for the Arkansas game, but what about after that? Alabama has a nicely placed bye-week following the matchup with the Razorbacks, but then LSU comes calling on November 9th in Tuscaloosa. The Tide should handle Arkansas without their Heisman contending QB, but the thought of facing LSU without Tua is enough to make the stomachs of even the most confident of Alabama fans churn.

There were some tense moments in Alabama’s 35-13 win over Tennessee on Saturday night. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Mac Jones came off the bench and looked a bit shook in the moment on the big stage. In his defense, it probably never occurred to him that he might have to take a meaningful snap against the Volunteers.

After consecutive three-and-outs with Jones on the field, the offense finally got moving thanks in large part to the running of junior tailback Najee Harris. The former five-star recruit put the offense on his shoulders and led the Crimson Tide down the field where a perfectly timed trick-play out of the wildcat resulted in a touchdown pass from Slade Bolden to Miller Forristal to give Alabama a two-touchdown cushion.

In the fourth quarter, Tennessee had an opportunity to make it a one-score game, but Jarrett Guarantano’s ill-fated decision to call his own number on a quarterback sneak at the goal-line resulted in a fumble that Trevon Diggs promptly scooped up and took 100-yards for a touchdown the other way that put the final nail in Tennessee’s coffin.

There’s a lot that we can take from Alabama’s 35-13 win that moves them to 7-0 and kept them at No. 1 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. Let’s overreact to what we saw on the field Saturday night.