Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low
If Tennessee is going to have any chance of winning at Alabama today, the Vols will have to shorten the game, which means running the football.
They were able to have some success running it against Florida earlier this season, which is the reason Tennessee was able to hang around in that game.
Running the ball against Alabama, though, is a different story. The Crimson Tide are third nationally against the run and giving up just 63.2 yards per game. They haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 26 games.
So, obviously, Tennessee tailback Montario Hardesty, who's having a great senior season, has his work cut out today. The Vols simply can't put quarterback Jonathan Crompton in a lot of third-and-long situations, because that's when Alabama's defense dials up the pressure, comes after you from all sorts of different angles and carves you apart.
If Tennessee is going to have any chance of winning at Alabama today, the Vols will have to shorten the game, which means running the football.
They were able to have some success running it against Florida earlier this season, which is the reason Tennessee was able to hang around in that game.
Running the ball against Alabama, though, is a different story. The Crimson Tide are third nationally against the run and giving up just 63.2 yards per game. They haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 26 games.
So, obviously, Tennessee tailback Montario Hardesty, who's having a great senior season, has his work cut out today. The Vols simply can't put quarterback Jonathan Crompton in a lot of third-and-long situations, because that's when Alabama's defense dials up the pressure, comes after you from all sorts of different angles and carves you apart.
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Chris Low
Low joined ESPN.com in 2007 after 10 years with The (Nashville) Tennessean covering the University of Tennessee and SEC. The Rock Hill, S.C., native lives with his wife in Knoxville and has three sons.
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