WATCH: 57-yard touchdown by JaVonta Payton following Alabama penalty
Tennessee took the lead against Alabama with a 57-yard touchdown catch by JaVonta Payton after an Alabama penalty extended their drive. On a Tennessee punt attempt on 4th-and-23, Alabama received a roughing the kicker penalty that kept Tennessee’s drive alive.
The touchdown was to JaVonta Payton, as Sideline CFB corrected in a follow-up post.
JaVonta Payton’s touchdown gives Volunteer’s lead
Tennessee ended the first quarter with a 14-7 lead after a huge touchdown reception by Payton on a simple deep post route. The Alabama defense was caught with their safety playing too shallow in the field. When the defense attempted to recover and tackle Payton after the catch, Payton shook the tackle and ran to the open field for the easy score.
The huge play came just two plays after an Alabama mistake gave Tennessee a second chance. On a 4th-and-23 punt attempt, the Crimson Tide committed a roughing the kicker penalty that saved the drive. Two plays later, Hooker found Payton for the big play.
After the touchdown, Alabama head coach Nick Saban could be seen discussing the play in an animated fashion on the sideline. Between the disastrous penalty and the second touchdown given up in the first quarter, Saban’s frustration became evident as Tennessee looks to defeat Saban’s Crimson Tide team for the first time ever.
Tennessee’s up-tempo offense
Tennessee’s 57-yard touchdown strike came as a direct result of their hurry-up offense. The previous play was a simple five-yard pass, and the Volunteer’s quickly got back to the line of scrimmage before Alabama was completely ready.
Saban spoke prior to their matchup about the difficulties the Tennessee offense would present to his team.
“I think that they go fast, so people have to get lined up and be ready to play,” Saban said of what troubles him when facing Tennessee’s offense. “I think they’ve got a really good runner. And I think their quarterback’s ability to run contributes to that.
“In terms of quarterback run — so when they run the zone play he’s very capable if you try to cheat the end on the dive, [the] quarterback’s gonna pull the ball. They’ve been very effective at doing that and they’re very well coached so they don’t usually do it and make bad plays. They usually do it and make very positive plays. They’ve got quarterback runs, they’ve got quarterback draws — they get you spread out and run those plays which is very challenging for the people up front.
“And they’ve got ability to throw the ball so you can’t just say we’re going to play the quarterback runs because they’ve made a lot of explosive plays in the passing game because [of] the vertical stretch of the field — and when they get you spread out, they’ll spit it out there if you don’t have enough guys out there and make positive plays as well. So this offense is very challenging.”
Tennessee’s offense has produced 249 yards per game on the ground this season and 473 yards of total offense while averaging 39 points per game. As Saban detailed, Tennessee’s offense gets to the line of scrimmage quickly with their high-tempo style of play.