Alabama currently trails Tennessee 12-10 at halftime, and here’s what Alabama football needs to do to come back and win the game against Tennessee in the second half:
Take care of the football
Alabama has turned the football over three times. One was a pick, and the other two were fumbles.
The turnovers are hurting the Crimson Tide, and luckily for Alabama, Tennessee is struggling to get in the end zone.
Running back Daniel Hill’s ball security is being questioned once again. He fumbled inside the red zone, and this is not his first time fumbling this season. Hill fumbled the ball twice at Mississippi State and lost one of them.
Establish the run game
Alabama’s offense opened with three-straight passes, and the Crimson Tide did not give a running back a carry on the second drive of the game either.
At halftime, the rushing numbers for Alabama are a bit disappointing. The Crimson Tide have 53 yards of rushing, and the passing attack is not in gear as of right now for Alabama as the Crimson Tide have 40 passing yards.
Alabama running back EJ Crowell carried the ball once for a gain of one yard, and the freshman went back to the locker room in the second quarter. The Crimson Tide are deep at the running back position, so there is no reason to shy away from the run game unless the staff thinks Alabama can’t get movement up front.
Protect Keelon Russell, get him settled in
In this game, Russell has been sacked twice, and he’s fumbled once.
Russell looked like a young quarterback that’s a first-year starter, and that’s a way of saying that he made mistakes that he normally doesn’t make. His interception was pretty far off target. Also, the Crimson Tide are not doing well up front, and the Vols are getting after Russell and forcing some uncharacteristic errors.
The fumble by Russell was caused by an Alabama offensive lineman colliding with him, but the interception was just a bad throw.
Russell will need to settle down and overcome the adversity the Crimson Tide is facing, but his offensive linemen are going to be challenged even more in the second half.
Keep Tennessee out of the red zone
The Vols had a huge opening drive in this game, and after allowing a few explosive plays, the Crimson Tide were able to tighten up and hold Tennessee to a field goal. Since that opening drive, the Vols have been given great field position a number of times due to turnovers, but Tennessee is having a hard time finding the end zone.
However, the Vols have a good kicker. Cooper Ranvier made all four of his field goals. Tennessee leads 12-10.
