No. 6 Alabama heads to No. 14 Tennessee on Saturday trying to put last week behind it after a loss to Georgia, and it will do so without Ryan Coleman-Williams, its top receiver. The 5-1 Crimson Tide have a 3-1 SEC mark, but the trip to Knoxville, Tenn., arrives with both urgency and uncertainty.
Kalen DeBoer said Alabama cannot let Georgia “beat us twice,” and that is the task now: absorb a defeat, keep the league race moving and avoid carrying the same frustration into a second straight top-15 matchup. Alabama’s offense still has young pieces in sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell and freshman running back Trae’shawn Brown, but Coleman-Williams had been the security blanket, leading the team with 23 catches for 415 yards and four touchdowns before he was ruled out Wednesday night.
His absence matters because Coleman-Williams was not just productive; he was the target Alabama leaned on when plays broke down. He left last week’s game twice, with the second exit coming because of a concussion, and now sophomore Lotzeir Brooks is set to become Russell’s primary target. That forces Alabama to replace production and trust with timing, something harder to do on the road against a defense that can speed up a quarterback’s decisions.
Tennessee brings that pressure. The Volunteers have 25 sacks, most in the nation, and their 48 tackles for loss rank fourth. Xavier Gilliam has five sacks, Tyree Weathersby has 4.5 and Mariyon Dye has four, a front that has helped Tennessee allow 293.7 yards per game and stay in the thick of the Southeastern Conference race. Alabama has its own disruptive answer — nine interceptions in six games, with four returned for touchdowns by Red Morgan, Yhonzae Pierre, Dijon Lee Jr. and Luke Metz — but takeaways are less predictable than a pass rush.
The other mystery is Tennessee’s quarterback. Josh Heupel had not said by midweek who will start against Alabama, leaving open whether George MacIntyre gets another turn after starting for the first time and helping Tennessee beat Auburn and Arkansas. MacIntyre also had a fumble and two interceptions against Arkansas, which is why Heupel stressed both that he thought the quarterback was “decisive with the football” and that the group has to do a better job taking care of it. Faizon Brandon’s shoulder injury has limited him, so Tennessee enters Saturday with an offense still sorting itself out even as DeSean Bishop has given it balance with 678 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
That is what makes this game more than a rebound spot for Alabama. It is a chance for the Crimson Tide to show the Georgia loss was a setback, not a turn, and for Tennessee to prove its defense and running game can cover for uncertainty behind center. Saturday will tell whether Alabama leaves with its season steadied or with a second straight week of questions hanging over it.
