Bryce Young leads No. 4 Alabama to rout of Tennessee
Bryce Young threw for 371 yards and accounted for four touchdowns Saturday night as No. 4 Alabama pulled away in the fourth quarter to subdue undermanned Tennessee 52-24 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Crimson Tide (7-1, 4-1 SEC
) led just 31-24 after the Volunteers’ Hendon Hooker connected with Cedric Tillman on a 70-yard scoring strike 30 seconds into the fourth quarter.
But Alabama responded less than two minutes later with Brian Robinson Jr.’s 15-yard touchdown run. After Jalyn Armour-Davis’ 47-yard interception return gave the Tide an 18-yard field, Robinson plunged in from the 1 to make it 45-24 with 8:51 left.
Young capped a 31 of 43 night by connecting with John Metchie on a 19-yard scoring strike at the 5:01 mark of the fourth quarter. It was Alabama’s 15th consecutive win over Tennessee (4-4, 2-3), dating back to Nick Saban’s first year as its coach in 2007.
Robinson added 107 yards and three scores on 26 rushes for the Tide, which finished with 574 total yards and possessed the ball for 40 minutes and 26 seconds.
Hooker completed 19 of 28 passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns, finding Tillman seven times for 152 yards. But the Volunteers simply couldn’t produce enough in the running game, managing only 64 yards on 26 rushes, and wore down defensively.
Robinson’s 8-yard run opened the scoring less than seven minutes into the game. But Hooker lifted Tennessee into a 14-7 lead after a quarter by finding Velus Jones Jr. and JaVonta Payton for 8- and 57-yard touchdown passes, respectively.
Alabama controlled the second quarter, tying the game on Young’s 5-yard scoring scramble with 9:27 left and taking the lead for good when Metchie caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Young at the 2:34 mark.
The teams exchanged field goals in the third quarter. Chase McGrath connected from 32 yards for the Volunteers with 9:44 left, but Will Reichard responded with a 45-yarder just over three minutes later.
Tennessee went just 2 of 13 on third-down conversions and was flagged 12 times for 98 yards.
–Field Level Media
