Alabama Football Game Notes: Tennessee
10/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Game 8: ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE at TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS Alabama Quick Notes: Alabama has the 7th-toughest schedule among NCAA schools...Junior tailback Santonio Beard (13-138-5) was named the SEC "Offensive Player of the Week" following his school-record tying five rushing touchdowns in Bama's 42-7 win over Ole Miss last weekend...Junior kicker Kyle Robinson is the first left-footed place kicker to score for the Crimson Tide since Georges Mardini converted one extra point in the Tide's 42-7 homecoming win over Southern Miss (Oct. 25) in 1980...Alabama has lost seven straight games to Tennessee...UA leads the SEC in rushing defense (83.1) and sacks (24)...Bama is 9-2 in its last 11 games, dating back to last year... ALABAMA AND TENNESSEE The Alabama Crimson Tide football team (5-2, 2-1 SEC) travels to Knoxville, Tenn., this Saturday to meet the Tennessee Volunteers (4-2, 1-2 SEC) in a nationally televised game by ESPN. Tennessee comes into the game ranked No. 16 in the recent AP poll, while the Tide is 19th. The Crimson Tide and Volunteers are meeting for the 85th time in this long, storied Southern football rivalry that dates back to the turn of the 20th century. Alabama enters the Tennessee game following a 42-7 Homecoming win over Ole Miss. The Volunteers, coming off their second open date of the 2002 season, have not played since dropping an 18-13 decision at Georgia on Oct. 5. ESPN will televise its second Alabama game of the year this weekend in Knoxville. ESPN also aired the Arkansas game on Sept. 28. Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Mike Gottfried (analyst) and Dr. Jerry Punch (sidelines) will describe the action to a national cable audience. The game will also be aired on the 80-plus station Crimson Tide Sports Network with Eli Gold (play-by-play) and Kenny Stabler (color analyst) describing the action. Tom Roberts will once again work the sidelines for the network broadcasts. The game will also be aired on the Sports USA Network with Larry Kahn (play-by-play), Stan Brock (analyst) and Troy West (sidelines) handling the commentary. UA IN 108th FOOTBALL SEASON The University of Alabama is in its 108th football season and has compiled a 749-283-43 (.717) all-time record in 1,075 games. The Crimson Tide played its first football game on Nov. 11, 1892 with a 56-0 win over Birmingham High School in Birmingham. Alabama and Penn State are tied for fifth place on the all-time victory list for Division I leaders. The Crimson Tide football legacy includes 12 national championships and 21 Southeastern Conference championships. Alabama has also logged 26, 10-win seasons, the most by any Division I school. The Crimson Tide also ranks among the best in post-season play, holding the NCAA record for most bowl appearances (51) and bowl victories (29). THE HEAD COACHES Alabama head coach Dennis Franchione is in his second season with the Crimson Tide and is part of an elite college coaching group with 150 or more career wins. Currently, there are only seven active coaches with 150 or more career wins and Franchione joined that group following last week's 42-7 win over Ole Miss. In his first season, Coach Fran led Alabama to a 7-5 record, including a win over Iowa State in the Mainstay Independence Bowl. He is 12-7 (.632) in his tenure with the Crimson Tide. Overall, Franchione is in his 20th season as a head coach and has compiled a 150-72-2 (.674) lifetime ledger at Southwestern (Kansas) College, Pittsburg State, Southwest Texas State, New Mexico, TCU and Alabama. Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer (Tennessee, 1972) seeks his 100th career victory as the Volunteers host the Crimson Tide this weekend. Overall, Fulmer is 99-22 (.818) in 11 seasons as head coach at his alma mater. Fulmer's .818 winning mark makes him the second-winningest active Division I head coach. Marshall's Bob Pruett (.860) ranks slightly ahead of Fulmer for highest winning percentage among active head coaches. In his 11-year tenure, Fulmer has led the Vols to two SEC Championships (1997 and 1998) and one national championship (1998). GAME CAPTAINS Game captains for the Tennessee game are Tyler Watts (quarterback) and Sam Collins (split end) on offense and Kindal Moorehead (defensive end) and Gerald Dixon (cornerback) on defense. NEXT WEEK Alabama concludes its two-week tour through the state of Tennessee as it travels to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores on Nov. 2 at Vanderbilt Stadium. There is no network TV scheduled, although the game will likely be a pay-per-view game with kickoff at 1 p.m. TIDE PLAYS 7TH TOUGHEST SCHEDULE According to a recent NCAA release, Alabama plays the nation's 7th-toughest schedule. Alabama's cumulative opponents have posted a 53-30 record. That breaks down to a 30-12 record of past opponents and a 23-18 mark for future opponents. Here is a look at how the Tide's 13 opponents rank in the "toughest schedule" category: Rank Team Opp. Win Percentage Playing the toughest teams in the nation is nothing new to the Alabama football program and the 2002 schedule looks to be another challenging 13-week grind. *Alabama has four opponents ranked in this week's football polls. Opponent AP USA Today *Alabama is 1-2 against ranked teams this season, beating No. 21 Ole Miss (42-7) last weekend and losing at No. 2 Oklahoma (37-27) on Sept. 7 and to No. 6 Georgia (27-25) on Oct. 5. *Tennessee will be the Crimson Tide's fourth ranked opponent this season and second on the road. The Vols are ranked 16st by AP and 15nd by the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. *Alabama's schedule also features three defending conference champions, including Middle Tennessee State (Sun Belt co-champs), North Texas (Sun Belt co-champs) and LSU (SEC). *ESPN.com put together a listing of the Top 10 Mid Major teams in the country and Alabama will play three of those 10 teams as part of its non-conference schedule this season. The poll lists Southern Miss (4), Hawaii (5) and Middle Tennessee (8) among the 10-best teams. The complete poll includes Marshall, Louisville, Colorado State, Southern Miss, Hawaii, Utah, Fresno State, Bowling Green, Middle Tennessee State and South Florida. *Alabama's 2002 schedule features home games against all three Division I teams from the state of Mississippi. The Crimson Tide played Southern Miss (Sept. 21) and Ole Miss (Oct. 19) and hosts Miss. State (Nov. 9) at Bryant-Denny Stadium this season. The last time Alabama played all three Mississippi teams at home during the same season was 1981. *The 2002 schedule contains seven teams that participated in bowl games last year, including Oklahoma (Cotton), North Texas (New Orleans), Arkansas (Cotton), Georgia (Music City), Tennessee (Citrus), LSU (Sugar) and Auburn (Peach). *Four other teams were bowl eligible in 2001, but did not participate in post-season play. The other bowl eligible teams were Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss, Ole Miss and Hawaii. ALABAMA-TENNESSEE SERIES One of college football's most colorful series celebrates its 85th renewal this Saturday as the Alabama Crimson Tide travels to Knoxville to face the Tennessee Volunteers. Alabama and Tennessee have met every year since 1928, with the exception of the 1943 season when neither school fielded a football team due to World War II. Alabama leads the all-time series with Tennessee 42-33-7 lead, but the Volunteers have won the last seven meetings. The Vols' seven-game winning streak is the longest in series history against the Crimson Tide. Alabama's last win in the series was a 17-13 victory in Knoxville on Oct. 15, 1994 when UT quarterback Peyton Manning was a freshman. Tennessee had a six-game unbeaten streak against Alabama from 1955-60, posting a 5-0-1 ledger. The very first meeting took place Nov. 28, 1901 in Birmingham, when the two schools played to a 6-6 deadlock. Alabama posted a 9-1-1 record in the first 11 meetings with Tennessee, including seven shutouts, before the series was halted from 1915-27. The series resumed on Oct. 20, 1928, the first of 66 consecutive meetings on the third Saturday in October, with Tennessee claiming a 15-13 win in Tuscaloosa. Over the next 20 years (1928-48), the two teams would split 20 meetings, with both teams winning nine times and playing to a pair of ties. The Big Orange, however, dominated the next decade, as UT posted an 8-3-1 record from 1949-60. During that stretch, the Vols won four straight games (1955-58) and posted five shutouts in six years. Alabama ended Tennessee's six-game unbeaten streak (5-0-1) with a 34-3 win over the Vols in Birmingham during the 1961 season, Coach Paul Bryant's first national championship at Alabama. Since the 1950s, the series has been nothing but streaks. After Tennessee's 8-3-1 record over a 12-year period, Alabama answered with a 5-0-1 mark from 1961-66. Following Alabama's dramatic 11-10 win in Knoxville during the 1966 season, the Volunteers reeled off four straight wins from 1967-70. Entering the 1971 game at Legion Field, the series was tied 23-23-7. Alabama then won 11 consecutive games (1971-81) over Tennessee to gain the upperhand in the series. The 11-game winning streak included a 27-0 win over the Vols in Knoxville marking the first shutout since a 35-0 over Tennessee in 1963. The Vols snapped Bama's streak with a 35-28 win in Knoxville in 1982 and then won four consecutive games (1982-85) in the series. Alabama ended that streak with a 56-28 win in Knoxville behind Bobby Humphrey's 217 rushing yards. The 1986 victory was the first in the Tide's nine-game unbeaten streak from 1986-94. The two teams played to a 17-17 tie at Legion Field in 1993 (but was later forfeited to Tennessee due to NCAA sanctions). Bama quarterback Jay Barker directed the team on a last-minute drive and David Palmer, who ran the ball in from three yards out, clinched the tie on a two-point conversion. The nine-game unbeaten streak came to an abrupt halt in 1995 as Tennessee handed Alabama a sound 41-14 thrashing at Legion Field. UT set the tempo on the game's first play as Peyton Manning threw an 80-yard TD pass to Huntsville, Ala., native Joey Kent. The Vols extended their lead to 21-0 before claiming their largest margin of victory over Alabama in a quarter-century. The 1995 victory was the first in UT's seven-game winning streak over Alabama. The Vols have also posted wins in 1996 (20-13), 1997 (38-21), 1998 (31-18), 1999 (21-7), 2000 (20-10) and 2001 (35-24). The 1999 Alabama-Tennessee game was the first to be played in Tuscaloosa since the 1930 season. The 5th ranked Vols beat 10th ranked Alabama 21-7 in a game that saw Alabama lose its starting quarterback (Andrew Zow) and running back (Shaun Alexander) to injuries. ALL-TIME RESULTS Year Results (Site) * - Later forfeited due to NCAA sanctions. ALABAMA-TENNESSEE NOTEBOOK *Alabama head coach Dennis Franchione is 0-1 in his head coaching career against the Volunteers, losing his only meeting last year in Tuscaloosa (35-24). *Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer has a 7-1-1 on-the-field record with Alabama, but is actually 8-1 (.889) overall as the result of a forfeit by Alabama in 1993. *Alabama (748) and Tennessee (742) have combined to win 1,470 football games in their storied histories. Alabama ranks fifth all-time among Division I schools, while Tennessee is eighth. *In terms of all-time SEC wins, Alabama and Tennessee have combined to win 596 SEC football games. UA heads the list with 319 league wins, while UT is second with 277 SEC victories. *The Crimson Tide and Volunteers have also combined to win 34 SEC Championships. Alabama heads the list with 21 crowns, including 15 outright titles. Tennessee is second with 13 league titles, including nine outright. *Alabama, Tennessee and Florida combined to win every SEC Championship in the 1990s. Team SEC Titles *Alabama has four players on its roster from the state of Tennessee. The list includes Dennis Alexander (OL, Memphis), Santonio Beard (TB, Nashville), Ahmaad Galloway (TB, Millington) and Kindal Moorehead (DL, Memphis). *Alabama defensive coordinator Carl Torbush is a native of Knoxville, Tenn., and 1974 graduate of Carson-Newman. A three-year lettermen at Carson-Newman, Torbush earned NAIA first-team All-America honors in both football and baseball. He was later inducted into the Carson-Newman College Sports Hall of Fame. *Torbush's first coaching job out of college was at Carter High School in Knoxville. *The Tennessee roster lists four Alabama natives, including Jason Allen (Muscle Shoals), Corey Larkins (Opelika), Rashad Moore (Huntsville) and Keldrick Williams (Montgomery). *Tennessee assistant head coach and defensive coordinator John Chavis is a former assistant coach at Alabama A&M (1980-83, 1986-88) and Alabama State (1984-85). *Tennessee running backs coach Woody McCorvey is a former assistant coach at Alabama under Gene Stallings (1990-96) and Mike DuBose (1997). While at Alabama, McCorvey served as receivers coach, offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Among his pupils was Alabama All-American David Palmer (1991-93), who set several school records, including most receiving yards in a game and season. *McCorvey is a native of Grove Hill, Ala., and played quarterback at Escambia County Training School and Alabama State (1968-72). He also coached at Alabama A&M from 1979-82. *Tennessee quarterbacks coach Pat Washington played collegiately at Auburn under former head coach Pat Dye from 1982-85. *Washington is a native of Mobile, Ala., and prepped at Murphy High School before signing with Auburn. *Tennessee sophomore offensive tackle Michael Munoz (Mason, Ohio) is the son of NFL Hall of Famer, Anthony Munoz. The elder Munoz played at Southern California and went head-to-head with Alabama twice, losing in 1977 (21-20) in Los Angeles and winning in 1978 (24-14) at Legion Field. ALABAMA PLAYER STATS (Tennessee) Here is a look at how the current Crimson Tide roster has fared statistically against the Volunteers. *Senior Waine Bacon posted eight tackles and one PBU in his debut against the Vols last year in Tuscaloosa. *Senior punter Lane Bearden has averaged 45.6 yards onn 12 punts in his career against Tennessee. The two longest punts in his career have also come against the Vols, including a career-long 62-yard punt here in Knoxville during the 2000 season. *Tailback Santonio Beard had one of his better games for the Crimson Tide last year agianst Tennessee. The Nashville, Tenn., native ran 10 times for 141 yards, including a career-long 69 yard run to set up Alabama's go-ahed TD late in the third quarter. *In addition, Beard avergaed 14.1 yards per rushing attempt last year against the Vols, establishing an Alabama single-game record for highest rushing average with a minimum of 10 attempts. *Wide receiver Sam Collins recorded a career-high two TD receptions last year against the Vols. *Collins second TD recpetion gave the Crimson Tide its first lead of the game. Tyler Watts' six-yard pass to Collins with 9:40 left in the third quarter gave Bama its first lead at 17-14. *Rover Brooks Daniels had 10 tackles in last year's loss to Tennessee. He was one of two UA players (Charles Jones, 11) with double-figure tackles last year against the Vols. *Defensive tackle Jarret Johnson's best game against Tennessee came in 2000, where he posted five tackles, two sacks (-15), one TFL (-4) and three QBPs. *Free safety Charles Jones' best game at Alabama came last year against Tennessee, when he posted 11 tackles and one PBU. The 2001 UT game is his only career double-figure tackle game for the Tide. *Defensive end Nautyn McKay-Loescher had six tackles and one QB pressure in last year's game at Tuscaloosa. *Defensive end Kindal Moorehead had 12 career tackles in three games against Tennessee. He also has one sack in each of his last two games with the Vols. *Quarterback Tyler Watts started the only game of his career against the Vols last year in Tuscaloosa. As a junior, Watts completed 10-of-23 passes for 165 yards and two TDs. *Watts has never taken a snap at quarterback against Tennesssee here in Neyalnd Stadium. Andrew Zow took every snap in the Tide's 20-10 loss here in 2000. BAMA, VOLS RANKED AGAIN The 2002 Alabama-Tennessee game marks only the 13th time in the 85-game series that both teams are ranked in the AP Top 25. Tennessee enters the game ranked 16th in the latest poll, while Alabama is 19th this week. *Alabama and Tennessee have split those 12 meetings featuring two ranked teams, with both teams earning six wins. *The last time both teams were ranked was Oct. 23, 1999 when No. 5 Tennessee beat No. 10 Alabama, 21-7. It was the first Alabama-Tennessee game contested in Tuscaloosa since the 1930 season. *At least one team has been ranked every year since 1959 with the exception of 1968, 1984 and 2000. *In addition, the 2000 Alabama-Tennessee game marked the first time since 1955 that neither team entered the game with a winning record. The Crimson Tide posted a 3-3 record entering the game, while the Vols were 2-3. *Since 1939, the highest ranked team has compiled a 40-7-2 (.836) record in the Alabama-Tennessee *The last time the lower ranked team win in this series took place on Oct. 19, 1991 when No. 14 Alabama beat No. 8 Tennessee, 24-19, at Birmingham's Legion Field. Series Record with at least one ranked team ALABAMA-TENNESSEE IN KNOXVILLE The Crimson Tide and Volunteers first met on the UT campus on Nov. 13, 1909 and Saturday's game with mark the 39th meeting between these two Southern football rivals in Knoxville. Alabama holds a slim 19-18-1 lead in the previous 38 meetings on the UT campus. *Alabama and Tennessee have met every other year in Knoxville since 1929. The two teams played in Knoxville during odd-numbered years from 1929-41. After neither school fielded a football team in 1943 due to World War II, the series resumed in 1944 and the two school have played every even-numbered year on the UT campus since 1944. *Alabama defeated Tennessee 27-7 on Oct. 20, 1962 in the dedication game at Neyland Stadium. The stadium originally opened as Shields Watkins Field on Sept. 24, 1921. *Tennessee enters this game with a three-game home winning streak over Alabama, the longest since the Vols won three straight from 1956-60. *A win over Alabama this season and Tennessee will equal its longest home winning streak in the series. The Vols beat the Crimson Tide four consecutive times from 1946-52. UT also won three straight home game with Alabama from 1914-31. Year Series Results in Knoxville ESPN will televise its first Alabama-Tennessee game since the 1997 season when the two teams meet this weekend at Neyland Stadium. In that game, the Vols posted a 38-21 victory at Legion Field, its third straight win over the Crimson Tide. The last time ESPN televised an Alabama-Tennessee game in Neyland Stadium was Oct. 15, 1994, which just happened to be the last time Alabama beat Tennessee. The 2002 game marks the 24th televised game in this rivalry. The first Alabama-Tennessee game to be televised was Oct. 20, 1951 at Legion Field. The game was also the first televised football game in Alabama's history. NBC Sports aired the game from Birmingham and used a pair of veteran and future Hall of Fame broadcasters. Alabama alum Mel Allen and Tennessee alum Lindsey Nelson handled the announcing chores that day as the Vols posted a 27-13 win. 1951 Tennessee 27, Alabama 13 (Birmingham) (NBC) For 66 years the annual Alabama-Tennessee game was simply referred to as "The Third Saturday in October." Alabama and Tennessee first played on the traditional third Saturday date Oct. 28, 1928. The tradition continued through the 1994 season. In 1995, the Southeastern Conference Office realigned its conference football schedule, putting an end to the 66-year third Saturday tradition that had become Alabama-Tennessee football. The Oct. 14, 1995 game was played on the second Saturday in October and the teams have played only three times (1997, 2000 and 2001) on the third Saturday in October over the last eight years, including each of the last two seasons. The series became so popular that the late Al Browning, former sports editor of The Tuscaloosa News and Knoxville News- Sentinel, wrote a book entitled Third Saturday in October, recapping each game in this tradition-rich football series. NON-THIRD SATURDAY CLASHES The 2002 Alabama-Tennessee game marks the 15th time in the 85-game history of the series that the game has not been played on the traditional third Saturday in October. *The Crimson Tide has compiled a 7-6-1 (.500) record in those non third Saturday games. *The Vols have won five straight non third Saturday meetings with the Crimson Tide. Non-Third Saturday Scores Nov. 28, 1901 -- Alabama 6, Tennessee 6 For more than a half century, the Alabama-Tennessee series has been one of the most streaky series in all of college football. The shortest winning streak in the series by either team since the 1995 season is four games, posted by Tennessee from 1955-58, 1967-71 and 1982-85. *Since 1955, the series has been filled with streaks, both good and bad. Here is a quick Alabama-Tennessee history lesson on the various streaks. *From 1955-60, Tennessee posted a 5-0-1 record against Alabama, the second-most successful stretch for the Vols in the 85-game series. 1955 Tennessee 20, Alabama 0 (Birmingham) 1961 Alabama 34, Tennessee 3 (Birmingham) *Tennessee regained momentum in the late 1960s, winning four straight games from 1967-70. 1967 Tennessee 24, Alabama 13 (Birmingham) 1971 Alabama 32, Tennessee 15 (Birmingham) 1982 Tennessee 35, Alabama 28 (Knoxville) 1986 Alabama 56, Tennessee 28 (Knoxville) 1995 Tennessee 41, Alabama 14 (Birmingham) Tennessee's current seven-game winning streak is the longest by the Volunteers in series history. *With a 35-24 win over Alabama last year in Tuscaloosa, Tennessee became the only team in history to win seven consecutive games over Alabama. *The previous high was a six-game winning streak by University of the South (Sewanee) from 1896-1911. Sewanee actually posted a nine-game unbeaten streak against the Crimson Tide from 1896-1914. 1896 Sewanee 10, Alabama 6 (Tuscaloosa) Here are the opponent's top winning streaks against Alabama since 1892. 7 Tennessee (1995-Present) Here are the opponent's top unbeaten streaks against Alabama since 1892. 9 Sewanee (1896-1914) ROAD RECORD Following the 30-12 win over Arkansas on Sept. 28, Alabama has compiled a 219-112-12 (.656) all-time record in 343 road games. Under Coach Fran, Alabama is 3-3 (.500) in road games, winning at Vanderbilt and Auburn last year and at Arkansas in 2002. The Crimson Tide is 1-1 on the road this season, dropping a 37-27 decision at No. 2 Oklahoma on Sept. 7 and then winning at Arkansas. The above record does not include neutral site games, bowl games or the Alabama-Auburn game played at Legion Field from 1948-88. *Historically Alabama has been a strong road team. From 1970-75, Alabama won a school record 21 consecutive road games. From 1970-82, Alabama was 35-6 (.854) in road games. *Since 1982, Alabama is 55-27-1 (.665) on the road. *Coach Fran is the only coach in the history of Alabama football to record his first career win on the road. Coach Fran's first win at Alabama was a 12-9 victory at Vanderbilt on Sept. 8, 2001. Road Records of UA Coaches Coach (Years) Record *Since 1992, Alabama is 26-15 (.634) in SEC road games, compiling the third-best winning percentage in the league. *Only Florida (37-9, .804) and Tennessee (31-10, .750) have a better road record in SEC games than Alabama since the 1992 season. *Alabama has won two straight SEC road games (Auburn, 2001) and Arkansas (2002) for the first time since 1999. *UA has not won three straight SEC road games since posting a perfect 4-0 SEC road record during the 1999 season. *During the 2000-01 seasons, Alabama was 2-6 (.250) in SEC road games. *Alabama's last road win over a ranked opponent was a 31-7 win over arch-rival Auburn (24th AP) on Nov. 18, 2001 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. *The last time Alabama defeated a Top 20 team on the road was a 40-39 overtime win at No. 3 Florida on Oct. 2, 1999 in Gainesville. |
