DeSean Bishop ran for two touchdowns and No. 14 Tennessee’s stifling defense paved the way to a 26-10 win over No. 6 Alabama in the “Third Saturday in October” rivalry Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn.
Bishop ran for 159 yards, with 97 of those and both of his scores coming after halftime.
Tennessee quarterback George MacIntyre completed 21 of 31 passes for 197 yards and one interception, and Cooper Ranvier made all four of his field goal attempts for Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference), which has won three straight home games against Alabama after losing seven straight at home and 15 straight overall in the rivalry from 2007-21.
Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell was 19-of-29 passing with 147 yards and two interceptions, matching his total from the first six games of the season.
Alabama (5-2, 3-2) managed just 201 yards of offense and had four turnovers, losing consecutive regular-season games for the first time since it dropped the final games of the 2007 regular season.
Despite forcing three turnovers and holding the Crimson Tide to 93 yards of offense, Tennessee led just 12-10 at the half.
The Volunteers’ strong opening drive ended with a Ranvier field goal, and Tennessee then took over in the red zone after a strip sack of Russell but managed just three more points on another field goal.
Tennessee made it 9-0 on Ranvier’s 41-yard field goal just over 10 minutes into the game after an Alabama punt. But the Volunteers were unable to add on after Dejuan Lane’s interception of Russell again gave Tennessee the ball in Alabama territory.
Alabama did not miss its chance off a turnover, with Russell running in a 19-yard TD one play after Ivan Taylor’s tip-drill interception of a MacIntyre pass.
Tennessee responded with its fourth field goal, pushing the lead to 12-7, before Alabama responded with its own field goal in the final seconds of the half to cut it to 12-10 at the intermission.
Tennessee finally reached the end zone on its first drive of the second half, capping off a nine-play, 60-yard drive on a 5-yard run by Bishop.
Alabama’s first drive of the half ended on a turnover on downs and its next two possessions resulted in three-and-outs.
As the Crimson Tide sputtered, Tennessee effectively iced the game with a 15-play touchdown drive that took 9:32 off the clock. Bishop’s second TD gave on another 5-yard run the Volunteers a 26-10 lead with 3:17 left.
