Alabama
Tennessee
No. 4 Alabama Football Beats Tennessee in Knoxville, 34-20
10/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee - Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper set a school record for receiving yards in a game with 224 yards on nine catches, including touchdown catches of 80 and 41 yards, to lead the No. 4-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1 overall; 4-1 in the Southeastern Conference) to a 34-20 win over the Tennessee Volunteers (3-5 overall; 0-4 in the SEC) before a capacity crowd of 102,455 Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
The victory, Alabama's eighth straight in the storied rivalry with Tennessee, marked Alabama's fifth consecutive game in the series scoring at least 30 points against the Vols. Alabama cruised to an early 27-0 lead and withstood a mid-game Tennessee rally to secure the victory, scoring quickly in the early going on Cooper's pair of touchdown grabs, quieting the crowd.
Linebacker Reggie Ragland led the Tide with a game-high nine tackles (six solos) with 1.5 tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Safety Nick Perry had eight tackles. Overall, the Alabama defense had seven tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, three pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a pass interception. Freshman punter JK Scott had four punts in the game for 171 yards, an average of 42.8 yards per punt. Three of his four punts were downed inside the Tennessee 20-yard line and he had a 60-yard punt in the game.
The Crimson Tide gets next weekend off before resuming the season at LSU on Saturday, November 8 in Baton Rouge, La.
Alabama won the opening coin toss and elected to defer its option to the second half, so Tennessee chose to receive the kickoff. The opening kickoff by Alabama's Adam Griffith was caught by Evan Berry two yards deep in his end zone and he returned it to the Tennessee 33. On first down, running back Jalen Hurd took a handoff for 12 yards around left end to the Tennessee 45. On the next play, quarterback Nathan Perterman passed to receiver Von Pearson for eight yards to the Tide 47. On first down Hurd ran for six yards to the Tide 41. On first down a pass by Nathan Peterman was knocked down by Tide defensive back Jarrick Williams who was blitzing. On second down Hurd ran for three to the Tide 38, then Peterman was sacked on third down for a loss of eight by Tide linebacker Xzavier Dickson at the Tide 46. That forced a Tennessee punt. Matt Darr's punt went 46 yards and into the end zone and the Alabama offense started at its own 20 with 12:52 left in the first quarter.
On the first play for the Alabama offense, quarterback Blake Sims threw a quick pass to wide receiver Amari Cooper who used clearing blocks by three teammates and raced 80 yards untouched down the Alabama sideline for a touchdown. After a false start penalty the extra point attempt was moved back five yards. Griffith's kick was no good, wide left. Alabama led, 6-0, with 12:39 left in the first quarter.
The ensuing kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback and Tennessee began the possession at its own 25. On first down a pass by Peterman for wide receiver Jason Croom was incomplete. On second down Hurd ran for seven yards to the Vols 32. On third down a pass from Peterman to Hurd gained two to the Tennessee 34, forcing a punt. Darr's punt traveled 45 yards and was fair caught by Cyrus Jones at the Alabama 21.
Alabama started at its 21 and a first down pass by Sims for running back T.J. Yeldon, who was wide open, was high and incomplete. On second down, Yeldon rushed at right end for three yards to the Tide 24. Facing third and seven at the 24. Sims found Cooper on a slant route for 13 yards and a first down at the Tide 37. On first down, a pass on a slant to receiver Chris Black was incomplete. On second down, Yeldon took a handoff at left tackle and weaved for six yards to the Tide 43. Third and four became third and nine when an illegal substation penalty on the Tide moved the ball back to the Tide 38. On third and nine, Sims found Cooper on a post pattern for 21 yards and a first down at the Tennessee 41. On the next play, Sims found Cooper on a streak down the Tennessee sideline and Cooper, who had faked Tennessee cornerback Cameron Sutton out of the play, caught the pass and raced untouched 41 yards to a touchdown. Griffith's kick was good and Alabama led, 13-0, with 8:55 left in the first quarter.
Through just over six minutes of play, Cooper had four receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns.
Joshua Dobbs entered at quarterback for Tennessee. On first down, Dobbs passed to Hurd for 11 yards and a first down at the Vols 36. A run by Von Pearson gained one yard on first down, then Dobbs' pass for tight end Ethan Wolf fell incomplete. On third and nine, Dobbs ran for five yards to the Tennessee 42, forcing a punt. Darr's 48-yard punt was fair caught by Cyrus Jones at the Tide 10. A 15-yard personal foul penalty on Tennessee set up the Alabama offense at the Tide 25.
From the Tide 25, Yeldon carried at left tackle for a yard to the 26. On second down, Yeldon took a handoff to the right and weaved back against the grain for a 15-yard run to the Tide 41. On first down from there, a quick pass from Sims to White gained eight yards to the Tide 49. On second down, a screen pass to White gained 17 yards to a first down at the Tennessee 34. Running back Derrick Henry entered the game and carried up the middle for three yards to the Tennessee 31. On second down, Sims eluded a rusher as he peeled back to the right and fired to Cooper at the Tennessee one with Cooper making a catch as he fell down there for a first down and a 30-yard gain (Cooper had five catches for 185 yards and two touchdowns in the game at this point). On first and goal, Tennessee safety Brian Randolph stopped Henry for a loss of three yards on a rush at the Tennessee 4. On second and goal, Alabama called timeout after a problem getting a play called with 4:04 left in the first period. A handoff to Yeldon at right guard gained three inside the 1-yard line. On third and goal, Yeldon took a handoff at right guard and bounced outside to race untouched into the end zone. An offside penalty on Tennessee was declined. Griffith's kick was good and Alabama led, 20-0, with 3:12 left in the first quarter.
Dobbs rushed for five yards on the first play to the Tennessee 28, then passed to tight end Alex Ellis for 25 yards to the Tide 47. After an incomplete pass on first down, Dobbs passed to Hurd for one yard then threw incomplete on third down, forcing a punt from the Tide 46. Darr's 36-yard punt was downed at the Tide 10 with 1:30 on the clock.
From the Tide 10, Henry rushed for two yards in the middle. Henry then ran at left guard for 12 yards to the Tide 24. Three incompletions forced a punt. From the Tide 24, JK Scott entered to punt for the first time in the game. He rocketed a 60-yard boot that was fumbled by Cameron Sutton and Tennessee's Michael Williams recovered at the Vols 12 with seven seconds on the clock. A rush for two yards by Dobbs ended the first quarter.
Through one period, Alabama had gained 253 yards (210 passing, 43 rushing) while holding Tennessee to 80 yards. Sims was seven of 12 passing for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
The second quarter began with the Vols facing second and eight at the Tennessee 14. A run by tailback Marlin Lane gained three yards to the 17. On third down, Dobbs broke loose for a 30-yard run to the UT 47. A false start penalty moved Tennessee back to its 42. On first and 15, a run by Hurd lost a yard. On second down, Dobbs kept for two yards but fumbled when hit by Tide linebacker Reggie Ragland and the loose ball was scooped up by Eddie Jackson who returned it 16 yards to the Tennessee 19. A personal foul penalty after the play moved Alabama back 15 yards and the Tide offense began at the Tennessee 34 with 12:48 left in the second period.
After an incomplete pass on first down, Yeldon ran for six to the 28 then Sims kept on a quarterback draw for 28 yards and a touchdown, bouncing off a tackler around the Tennessee five before going into the end zone. Griffith's kick was good and Alabama led, 27-0, with 12:03 left in the first half.
Tennessee responded with a drive of its own, driving 84 yards in 10 plays taking 4:54 on the march to a touchdown. A 44-yard run by Marlin Lane to the Tide 5-yard line highlighted the march in which Hurd rushed three times for 10 yards to start the drive. Two plays after the long run by Lane, facing third and goal at the Tide 9, Dobbs passed to receive Josh Malone in the front corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Aaron Medley's kick was good and the Alabama lead was trimmed to 27-7 with 7:03 left in the half.
Landon Collins returned the ensuing kickoff by Medley from the Tide 12 and went 16 yards to the Alabama 28. On first down Sims passed incomplete at the sideline for White. On second down a pass from Sims to Cooper on a short route gained nine yards to the Tide 37. On third and one fullback Jalston Fowler took a handoff up the middle for three yards to a first down at the Tide 40. Alabama lined up in the "wildcat" formation with Yeldon lined up at quarterback in the shotgun. Yeldon handed off to Cooper on a jet sweep to the left but Cooper was downed for a loss of nine yards. On second and 18 from the Tide 31 a handoff to Yeldon lost two yards to the Tide 29. Facing third and 20 a screen pass was dropped by Yeldon, forcing a punt. Scott punted from the Tide 29 and 40-yard punt was fair caught by Cameron Sutton at the Tennessee 31 with 3:53 left in the half.
After an incompletion on first down, Dobbs rushed for eight yards on a keeper to the Tennessee 39, then kept for six yards to a first down at the UT 45. After a run by tailback Jalen Hurd gained a yard, a pass interference penalty on Alabama on a deep pass netted 15 yards and a first down at the Alabama 39. A handoff to Hurd failed to gain. On second and 10 at the Tide 39 a pass to Wolf in the middle was high and Wolf could not haul it in. On third and 10 at the Tide 39 a pass was caught by wide receiver Marquez North over the outstretched hands of Tide safety Nick Perry for a 20-yard gain and a first down at the Tide 19. A false-start penalty cost Tennessee five yards and a first and 15 at the Tide 24. On first down Dobbs carried for nine yards to the Tide 15 as the clock approached 1:00 in the half. A run by Hurd at right guard gained five yards to the Tide 10, setting up third and one. Tennessee called its first timeout of the half with 49 seconds showing on the clock (both teams now had 2 timeouts remaining).
After the timeout, Tennessee line up in the "wildcat" format with linebacker A.J. Johnson at quarterback in the shotgun. Johnson took the snap and kept the ball at right guard but was stopped for no gain by Tide nose guard A'Shawn Robinson and Tide linebacker Reggie Ragland. Tennessee called its second timeout of the half with three seconds remaining in the half. Medley came in to try a 27-yard field goal. The kick was good and the half ended with Alabama holding a 27-10 lead.
At halftime, Alabama had a 288 to 239 edge in total offense, Tennessee had a 140-69 edge in rushing yards while Alabama led through the air by a 219-99 margin. Both teams had 11 first downs. Tennessee had run 44 offensive plays to Alabama's 31. The Tide had averaged 9.3 yards per play while Tennessee was averaging 5.4 yards per snap. Tennessee had an 18:20 to 11:40 edge in time of possession. The Tide defense had four tackles for loss to Tennessee's three. For Alabama, Cooper had six catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns, already the fifth-most receiving yards for a full game in Alabama history. Sims was eight of 16 passing for 219 yards and two touchdowns. For Tennessee, Dobbs had completed eight of 13 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Dobbs also had rushed for a game-high 56 yards on 10 carries.
Tennessee kicked off to start the second half. Cyrus Jones caught the kickoff by Medley at the Tide 6 and returned it 17 yards. Alabama started at the Tide 23. On first down Sims passed to White for 18 yards to the Tide 41. On the next play Yeldon gained nine yards to the 50 on a running play at right guard. Tide left tackle Cameron Robinson was injured on the play with 14:23 left in the third quarter, suffering an apparent right ankle injury. On second and one from the 50 Sims passed to White, the play was ruled a rush by White as the pass was behind the receiver. White lost a yard on the play to set up third and two. On third down Yeldon was lined up in the "wildcat" formation and took the direct snap but the play lost six yards and forced a punt. Scott's 41-yard punt was fair caught by Sutton at the Tennessee 16 with 12:38 on the clock. Tide safety Landon Collins was injured on the play.
On first down Dobbs passed to wide receiver Pig Howard for seven yards to the Tennessee 23. On second down Hurd gained three and a first down at the Tennessee 26. From the shotgun Dobbs called Tennessee's first timeout of the half with 11:32 left in the third quarter. When play resumed, Dobbs was again in the shotgun formation on first down from the Tennessee 26. Dobbs kept and was dropped by Ragland for a loss of a yard. On second and 11 Hurd carried up the middle for a gain of four yards to the Tennessee 29. On third and seven Dobbs rolled to his left and lofted a pass to the sideline to North, who made the catch while falling out of bounds for a 22-yard gain and a first down at the Tide 49. On first down Hurd gained three yards on run up the middle. Then Dobbs kept to the right side and gained five yards to the Tide 41. On third down, Dobbs passed to tight end Ethan Wolf on a crossing pattern for 10 yards to the Tide 31 and a first down. On the next play, Tide safety Nick Perry shed a blocker and stopped receiver Von Pearson on a jet sweep that gained two yards to the Tide 29. Dobbs' pass for Josh Malone was broken up by Cyrus Jones at the Tide 17 to set up third down. Dobbs faded to pass but was forced to run, he pump faked a pass that forced one defender airborne and kept for 15 yards to a first down at the Tide 14. Dobbs passed to Hurd for 11 yards to a first and goal at the Tennessee 3. On first down Dobbs and his backs were not on the same page and Dobbs had no one to handoff to. He was dropped for a loss of six yards by Geno Smith at the Tide 9. On second and goal, Dobbs kept and was stopped for no gain by Tide defensive end Dalvin Tomlinson. On third and goal from the 9 Dobbs found Pearson at the 2 and Pearson eluded a tackle by Cyrus Jones and went into the end zone for a touchdown. Medley's kick was good and Tennessee had narrowed the score to Alabama 27, Tennessee 17. The 15-play, 84-yard drive had consumed 6:46 and the game was now a 10-point contest with 5:52 left in the third quarter.
Cyrus Jones took Medley's kick at the Tide 4 and returned it 20 yards to the Tide 24. From the shotgun, Sims was pressured as he looked to pass. He spun out of a tackle and tried to pass to Cooper around the Tide 45, but the pass was short and incomplete. On second down Yeldon took a pitch sweep to his left, the wide side of the field, for six yards to the Tide 30. On third down Yeldon took a carry up the middle for five yards and a first down at the Tide 35. Yeldon was stopped for no gain on a run on first down. On second down, Cooper caught a pass for seven yards to the Tide 42 (Cooper now had seven catches for 201 yards in the game, tying his single-game yardage best). On third and three, Yeldon carried for five yards and a first down at the Tide 47. A pass to Cooper on a streak pattern was barely out of his reach at the Tennessee 30. On second down Henry carried up the middle for a yard. On third and nine at the Tide 48 Sims faded to pass then kept and leaped over a tackler to gain nine yards and a first down at the Tennessee 43. On first down Henry took a handoff at right tackle for three yards to the Tennessee 40. On second down a pass to Yeldon out of the backfield gained three yards to the Tennessee 37. On third and four at the Tennessee 37 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter Sims passed to Cooper for nine yards and a first down at the Tennessee 28. On first down Henry took a handoff at right tackle against a Tennessee blitz and broke free for a 28-yard touchdown run down the right sideline with 13 seconds left in the third quarter. Griffith's kick was good and Alabama led, 34-17, after a 13-play, 76-yard drive that consumed 5:33 of game clock.
The kickoff was downed in the end zone for a touchback and Tennessee took over possession at its own 25. On first down Hurd gained one yard on a run to the Tennessee 26 as the third period ended.
Through three quarters of play, Cooper had 210 receiving yards, the third-most in Alabama history for a game (record: 221 by Julio Jones at Tennessee in 2010). Cooper had the yardage on eight catches. Yeldon had 52 rushing yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. Blake Sims had completed 12 of 22 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception. For Tennessee, Dobbs had completed 13 of 19 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. He also had rushed for 69 yards on 15 carries to lead all rushers in the game. Alabama held a 384-324 lead in total offense with 256 passing and 128 rushing. Tennessee had 166 rushing yards and 158 passing yards. Alabama had converted 10 of 15 third downs into first downs while Tennessee had converted nine of 12 third downs.
The fourth quarter began with the Vols at their own 26-yard line facing second and nine. On second down a pass for Helm was incomplete. On third down a pass for Pearson fell incomplete, forcing a Tennessee punt. Darr punted from the 26 and his 34-yard punt rolled out of bounds at the Tide 40 with 14:42 left in the fourth quarter.
On first down Sims hit White on a crossing pattern for 16 yards to the Tennessee 44 and a first down. Henry then took a handoff off left tackle for four yards to the Tennessee 40. On second down Henry ran at left guard for one yard to the Tennessee 39. On third down Sims was sacked by linebacker Curt Maggitt for a loss of six to the Tennessee 45. Scott entered to punt. Scott's punt of 29 yards was fair caught by Sutton at the Tennessee 16 with 12:30 left in the fourth quarter.
On first down Hurd took a jet sweep to the left for a four-yard gain to the Tennessee 20. On second down Dobbs gained seven yards to a first down at the Tennessee 27. On the next play Dobbs passed to North on a streak pattern along the Tennessee sideline but the pass was long and Cyrus Jones intercepted for Alabama at the Tide 35 and Jones lost five yards on the return to the Alabama 30 with 11:49 on the clock. A false start penalty pushed the Tide back five yards to the Tide 25. On first down Sims fumbled the snap and Tennessee defensive end Corey Vereen recovered for the Vols at the Tide 23 with 11:45 left in the fourth quarter.
On first down, Pearson gained four yards on a jet sweep to the Tide 19. On second down Dobbs kept off a fake and gained eight yards to the 11 for a first down. On first down Lane rushed for a yard up the middle. On second down from the shotgun Dobbs passed complete to a leaping North for a gain of four yards to the Tide 6. On third and five Dobbs had North wide open at the goal line but the pass was behind North, who could not catch it and tipped the pass toward Tide cornerback Cyrus Jones, who also could not catch it. The incompletion forced a field goal attempt by Tennessee with 9:45 left in the quarter. Medley's kick was good from 24 yards and Alabama led, 34-20, with 9:42 left in the fourth quarter.
Cyrus Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Tide 21. On first down Sims passed complete to Cooper for a gain of 14 yards and a first down. That gave Cooper 224 receiving yards in the game, setting an Alabama single-game receiving yards record breaking the mark of 221 set by Julio Jones at Tennessee in 2010. Runs by Henry on first and second down gained four yards and one yard, respectively. On third and five, Sims rushed from the pocket and gained eight yards to a first down at the Tide 48, going out of bounds with 7:28 on the clock. Henry gained four yards on a run at right guard to the Tennessee 48. A pass interference penalty on Tennessee gained a first down on an eight-yard penalty to the UT 40. Henry carried up the middle for seven yards to the UT 33. Alabama called timeout as the play clock dwindled near zero, stopping the clock with 5:08 left with the Tide's first timeout of the half (both teams had two timeouts left in the half). On second and three as play resumed, Sims faked a handoff on a sweep to Henry and ran a naked bootleg for a gain of five yards to a first down at the Tennessee 28. On first down Henry gained three yards at left guard to the Tennessee 25. Henry gained three yards to the Tennessee 22. On third down Henry rushed again at left guard for five yards and a first down at the Tennessee 17.
A delay of game penalty on Alabama pushed the Tide back five yards to first and 15 at the Tennessee 22. Tennessee called timeout, their second of the half, with 2:38 on the clock (Alabama had two left, Tennessee had one remaining). When play resumed fullback Jalston Fowler broke up the middle for a run to the goal line, but fumbled as he was tackled. The 21-yard run ended with a forced fumble by Tennessee cornerback Cameron Sutton that UT linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin recovered at the Tennessee 1 with 2:29 on the clock.
Dobbs went to the air attack, hitting Pearson for four yards, then Howard for 15 to a first down at the Tennessee 20. A completion to North gained 10 to the Tennessee 30. A pass to Hurd gained six to the 36. Tide defensive end D.J. Pettway pressured Dobbs and forced an incompletion. On third and four at the 36 a pass to wide receiver Vic Wharton gained five yards to a first down at the UT 41. A pass on first down was incomplete, then Dobb was flushed from the pocket and kept for no gain. Tennessee called their last timeout of the half with 51 seconds on the clock and facing third down and 10 at the UT 41. Dobbs wanted to pass but was sacked by Tide defensive end Da'Shawn Hand for a loss of nine yards at the UT 32. On fourth down Dobbs' pass for a streaking Howard was incomplete and the ball was turned over on downs with 16 seconds left in the game.
The Tide offense lined up in the "victory formation" and Sims took knee on the final play for a team rush of minus-three yards to end the game. Alabama had its eighth consecutive victory over Tennessee.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 20 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
FIRST QUARTER
UA - Amari Cooper 80-yard pass from Blake Sims (kick failed), 12:39 left. Drive: 1 play, 80 yards, 0:13 elapsed. Score: Alabama 6, Tennessee 0.
UA - Cooper 41-yards pass from Sims (Adam Griffith kick), 8:55 left. Drive: 7 plays, 79 yards, 2:09 elapsed. Score: Alabama 13, Tennessee 0.
UA - T.J. Yeldon 1-yard run (Griffith kick), 3:12 left. Drive: 9 plays, 90 yards, 4:00 elapsed. Score: Alabama 20, Tennessee 0.
SECOND QUARTER
UA - Blake Sims 28-yard run (Griffith kick), 12:08 left. Drive: 3 plays, 35 yards, 0:45 elapsed. Score: Alabama 27, Tennessee 0.
UT - Josh Malone 9-yard pass from Joshua Dobbs (Aaron Medley kick), 7:03 left. Drive: 10 plays, 84 yards, 4:54 elapsed. Score: Alabama 27, Tennessee 7.
UT - Aaron Medley 27-yard field goal, 0:00 left. Drive: 11 plays, 59 yards, 3:53 elapsed. Score: Alabama 27, Tennessee 10.
THIRD QUARTER
UT - Von Pearson 9-yard pass from Dobbs (Medley kick), 5:52 left. Drive: 15 plays, 84 yards, 6:46 elapsed. Score: Alabama 27, Tennessee 17.
UA - Derrick Henry 28-yard run (Griffith kick), 0:13 left. Drive: 13 plays, 76 yards, 5:33 elapsed. Score: Alabama 34, Tennessee 17.
FOURTH QUARTER
UT - Medley 24-yard field goal, 9:42 left. Drive: 6 plays, 17 yards, 2:03 elapsed. Score: Alabama 34, Tennessee 20.
ATTENDANCE - 102,455 (capacity: 102,455)
