Alabama receiver Germie Bernard says Tennessee's defense is 'a field of dreams'

Alabama’s Germie Bernard likes his chances against Tennessee Football’s defense and the man-to-man coverage the Crimson Tide wide receivers will likely see on the other side of the ball Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. And he’s not afraid to say it, either.

“They like to play man-to-man, and they want to bring the house,” Bernard said Monday on The Next Round podcast. “So, yeah, it’s a great opportunity for our offense. They give up a lot of yards, but that’s because they trust and believe in their guys to get the job done.

“For us to have the opportunity to go against man-to-man, it’s a field of dreams. That’s what receivers want, those one-on-one matchups. It’s just going to be up to us to go out there and make the plays.”

Tennessee ranked last in SEC in pass defense, No. 123 nationally

No. 11 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) and No. 6 Alabama (5-1, 3-0) are scheduled for a 7:30 Eastern Time on ABC at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Vols enter the game last in the SEC in pass defense, giving up 257.8 yards per game, and are ranked 123rd nationally. 

Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green completed 21 of 31 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee’s 34-31 win Saturday at Neyland Stadium. 

Mississippi State had 175 yards passing and a touchdown against the Vols, UAB threw for a season-high 371 yards and two touchdowns and Syracuse went for 274 and a touchdown in the season opener on August 30. 

Last season Jalen Milroe completed 25 of 45 passes fore 239 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Jermod McCoy picked Milroe off in the corner of the end zone and Will Brooks had the second interception on Alabama’s final drive, sealing the win for Tennessee.

Bernard caught five passes for 72 yards in the loss in Knoxville. Ryan Williams led Alabama’s receivers with eight catches for 73 yards and a touchdown. 

Kendrick Law had four catches for 37 yards, Justice Haynes caught five passes for 34 yards and CJ Dippre had two catches for 21 yards.

Bernard leads Alabama’s receivers through six games this season, catching 28 passes for 412 yards and five touchdowns.

Tennessee DB coach Willie Martinez: ‘We just we just care about how we prepare’

Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez on Tuesday was asked about Bernard’s “field of dreams” comment, but said the question was the first he had heard of it.

He did acknowledge Tennessee’s players “probably listen to stuff like that” because “it’s out there on social media.”

Still, Martinez said, it doesn’t matter.

“We just we just care about how we prepare,” he said. “We know that our opponent is a good team. Obviously, everybody that we play is really good and they’re going to be ready for us. We’ve just got to be at our best when we play them. And they got great receivers. We know that. We faced them last year.

“They’ve got a couple of a couple of other guys too that are doing a really good job, a quarterback that’s hot. (Ty) Simpson is doing a really great job of managing the offense and being very productive. So we’ve got to do a good job again on those early downs trying to get them behind the sticks to force the third down and longs and be efficient and the best we can.”