Jabari Small reveals where Tennessee's belief in itself has come from

On Saturday, the Tennessee Volunteers snapped a 15-year losing streak to the Alabama Crimson Tide, defeating them at home 52-49. To finally up end a streak of that magnitude took an enormous amount of mental fortitude from the volunteers. And as Tennessee running back Jabari Small put it, that mental strength came from confidence built up by the work the team has put in.

“Just confidence in the work we’ve put in. And the way we were playing, it just gives us momentum and confidence just to keep going,” said Small. “We know they are a pretty good team, but at some point, you get kind of fed up with just being stuck in the trap of us always losing. So, we worked so hard, and we know our process and how hard we worked. The first step to winning is believing you can win. That’s what we did.

Small contributed to the Volunteer success on Saturday with his 12 rushes for 53 yards and one touchdown. But the stars of the game were the duo of the star quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Jalin Hyatt.

Hooker threw for 385 yards completing 21 of his 30 pass attempts for five touchdowns and one interception. Hyatt caught six of those passes for 207 yards, five of which the junior wide receiver made, were taken to the house for six.

Tennessee has now jumped up to No.3 in the country, but their work is still not done. Up next for the Volunteers this week is a matchup against sister school UT Martin. And after their brief break from conference play, the Volunteers will take on the Kentucky Wildcats at home in another top-25 showdown.

CBS Sports reveals record-setting television numbers from Alabama-Tennessee game

When Tennessee beat Alabama for the first time in 15 years, the scenes of pandemonium on the field clearly demonstrated how big of a moment was unfolding in the history of college football. Not only did the game-winning field goal and 52-49 score pass the eye test, the television numbers clearly demonstrate that everyone with a stake in the outcome – and plenty more – felt the need to tune in and be part of the moment.

According to CBS Sports and Paramount, the game set a series record for most viewers and joined LSU’s road win over Alabama in 2019 as one of the most-watched games broadcasted by the network in recent memory.

“Tennessee’s 52-49 victory over Alabama on Saturday scored as the most-watched Alabama-Tennessee game on record (since 1987) and the most-watched game of the season on any network, averaging 11.557 million viewers and up +145% vs. last year’s meeting,” a press release read.