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Live Updates: No. 11 Alabama 34, No. 17 Tennessee 20 (Final)

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Tennessee Athletics

It’s No. 17 Tennessee. It’s No. 11 Alabama. It’s the Third Saturday in October.

The Vols (5-1, 2-1 SEC) are back on the road to face the Crimson Tide (5-1, 4-0) on Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS as the SEC Game of the Week.

Follow along for live updates from Tuscaloosa before, during and after the game on The General’s Quarters.

The Vols are coming off a 20-13 win over Texas A&M on Saturday while Alabama won 24-21 over Arkansas in Tuscaloosa, holding on in the fourth quarter after leading 21-6 earlier in the game.

First Quarter

Tennessee 7, Alabama 0 (12:39): The Vols got the ball first and went down the field on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown pass from Joe Milton to Squirrel White. The play was reviewed and the call on the field was upheld after replay showed White catch the pass, then drag one foot across the goal line before falling out of bounds. Milton completed all five pass attempts on the drive, throwing for 60 yards. He ran for nine yards on third-and-6, too, while Jaylen Wright added six yards on two carries, including another third-down conversion.

Tennessee 10, Alabama 0 (2:00): After the two teams traded punts, Tennessee’s offense got back to work with another scoring drive. This one 79 yards over 15 plays, taking five minutes, 30 seconds off the clock, and was capped with a 24-yard Charles Campbell field.

Tennessee 13, Alabama 0 (0:11): Campbell kicked a 26-yard field goal to stretch the lead to 13 after Tennessee recovered a Jalen Milroe fumble at the Alabama 23-yard line. Milroe was sacked by sophomore James Pearce and the fumble was recovered by Omarr Norman-Lott.

Second Quarter

Tennessee 13, Alabama 7 (7:05): The Crimson Tide got on the scoreboard in the second quarter on a 10-yard pass from Milroe to Jermaine Burton. The scoring drive went 59 yards in nine plays and took 4:05 off the clock. Tennessee cornerback Kamal Hadden left the game during the drive after holding his right shoulder following a tackle.

Tennessee 20, Alabama 7 (0:12): Tennessee generated its second takeaway when Jaylen McCollough intercepted Milroe in the corner of the end zone on a pass that bounced off the shoulder of Jermaine Burton. The Vols went down the field the other direction with a 14-yard pass to White, a 30-yard pass to Ramel Keyton and capped the touchdown drive with a six-yard pass from Milton to tight end McCallan Castles. The drive went 80 yards in 10 plays, taking 2:58 off the clock and leaving Alabama with just 12 seconds to work with.

Halftime

Milton completed 16 of 22 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 43 yards on eight carries in the first half. The Vols as a team rushed 24 times for 100 yards, with both Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson carrying eight times for 24 yards. Wright carried six times for nine yards. 

White led Tennessee receivers with eight catches for 105 yards, including the jaw-dropping 39-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring. Keyton caught three passes for 57 yards and Castles had two catches for 12 yards, including the 6-yard touchdown catch to close the half. 

Milroe completed 10 of 14 passes for 117 yards, a touchdown and an interception in the first half for Alabama. The Crimson Tide ran 17 times but gained just 16 yards after Milroe was sacked three times for a combined loss of 26 yards. 

Tennessee had 275 total yards to Alabama’s 133 in the first half and the Vols were plus-two in the turnover category, scoring a total of 10 points off a forced fumble and the McCollough interception in the end zone.

Third Quarter

Tennessee 20, Alabama 14 (14:19): The Tide needed just two plays and only 41 seconds to open the scoring in the second half. Jase McClellan ran for 29 yards on first down, then Milroe threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond to get it back to a one-possession game, cutting the Tennessee lead down to six.

Tennessee 20, Alabama 17 (8:33): Tennessee went three-and-out after starting the following drive at the 4-yard line — the Vols attempted to return the kick after signaling for a fair catch — and Alabama came back with three more points. The drive went 46 yards in six plays and ended with a 42-yard field goal from Will Reichard.

Alabama 24, Tennessee 20 (3:42): Josh Heupel opted to go for it on fourth and a long one at midfield and the Vols failed, dropping to 0-for-4 on fourth downs the last two weeks. The Crimson Tide kept the momentum going the other way, driving 47 yards in five plays to take their first lead of the game with a 5-yard run from Jase McClellan.

Fourth Quarter

Alabama 27, Tennessee 20 (8:17): The Tide made it 20 straight points in the second half when Will Reichard hit a 50-yard field goal to put his team up seven. The drive went 56 yards in 15 plays and took 7:51 off the clock. Alabama converted third-and-10 with a 15-yard run from Milroe and picked up another first down on third-and-9 when Tennessee was called for holding in the secondary.

Alabama 34, Tennessee 20 (7:26): The nightmare second half continued two plays into Tennessee’s next drive. Milton was sacked from behind, stripped of the football and Alabama scooped and scored to build its lead to two touchdowns.

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