Time: 7 PM EST, Sat
Spread: ALA -20
Total: 56
Odds from Bookmaker
Alabama will look to maintain their No. 1 overall ranking and drive further towards what could be a BCS championship for the Crimson Tide. Their defense is even better than last year. They’re giving up just 7.5 points per game and an average of 181.2 yards…last year it was 8.2 per game and 183.6 yards per contest.
Amazingly, they’ve done this despite losing seven defensive starters, three of whom were selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
Head coach Nick Saban attributes hard work to the success of the defense, also adding that “they’ve had a really good attitude…(but) there’s still a lot of areas (they) need to improve on.”
The time for those improvements is now. Alabama faces three ranked teams in the next few weeks—Mississippi State, LSU, and Texas A&M. Still, they can’t overlook this week’s matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers, and even though college football oddsmakers set the line 20 points in favor of the Crimson Tide, Tennessee’s offense gives teams plenty to worry about.
The Volunteers are ranked in the top 25 in yards per game (482.3) and points per game (38 per game). QB Tyler Bray leads the SEC in touchdowns with 16, and has over 1700 yards on the season, which is the second most in the conference.
Saban added that the defense will be even bigger this week:
“We’re going to be challenged in a way that we’ve never been challenged….their capabilities in the passing game as well as the balance they have running the ball.”
The Crimson Tide have won the last five match ups between the schools, the last of which was a 41-10 pounding of the Volunteers in Knoxville on October 23rd of 2010.
What will likely make the difference in this game though is how poor the Volunteers’ defense is. They give up 31.5 points per game and allow 429.9 yards per game, which is the worst defense they’ve mustered since 1950.
Coach Derek Dooley stated the obvious, saying that “we’re not very good right now…we don’t get off the blocks the way we need to up front…”
The Vols have lost 14 straight to ranked opponents and they’ve allowed 129 yards in their three games to AP ranked teams this season. Their offense has kept them in those games, though. They lost by only a TD to then-No.5 ranked Georgia, and lost by 10 to then-No. 19 Miss State last week.
The Vols even led the Florida Gators by four at the half on September 15th, but they proceeded to give up 27 points in the second half while only scoring 10 of their own, resulting in the 37-20 loss.
Alabama Betting Trends:
Crimson Tide are 6-0 ATS in their last 6 OCT games, 4-0 ATS in their last 4 on the road, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 conference games, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 on grass.
Tennessee Betting Trends:
Vols are 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 after giving up 280+ passing yards previous game, 2-5 ATS following an SU loss, 2-8-1 ATS in their last 11 conference games, 3-13 ATS in their last 16 vs teams with winning road records, and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 OCT games.
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