Saturday’s rivalry game against Tennessee was odd. Alabama won comfortably 45-7, but for the second week in a row, it was a sloppy victory — even if it was dominant.

The Crimson Tide’s first drive — which totaled 12 plays for 63 yards and took 5:35 off the clock — was impressive, but it took all four chances once having it at the Tennessee 5-yard line to get it in.

Similarly, on the team’s fourth possession — which finished as a 15-play, 85-yard drive — the offense struggled to finish, taking six plays to get the last 6 yards to go up 14-0.

The offensive line struggled at times creating movement in the run game, but the team still somehow managed to rush for 272 yards and four touchdowns against the Vols. Jalen Hurts accounted for just 14 of those yards and none of the scores. It’s mind-blowing to have watched the game live, and then realize the Tide was this dominant statistically.

Overall, Alabama outgained Tennessee (604-108), held the ball for 58 percent of the time (34:51) and converted 60 percent on third and fourth down. Tennessee only converted 7.7 percent of the time.

Alabama’s pass rush continued its recent tear by way of racking up four sacks and eight QB hurries. Among those who managed to get to the quarterback was sophomore defensive lineman Raekwon Davis, who has now recorded 5.5 sacks in eight games this season.

Seniors Levi Wallace (2) and Rashaan Evans (1) also got in on sack city, including this one from Evans that almost took Guarantano’s head off:

There are so many Alabama players who are worthy of being highlighted for their play this season, and there are also so many statistics that back up why potentially Alabama is on its way to an historic season.

In fact, here’s another one.

CBS Sports color commentator Gary Danielson brought to light during Saturday’s game that Alabama is the only team in the country that has scored in every single quarter this season.

To show the balance, here’s a quarterly breakdown of Alabama’s points against Tennessee.

[table “” not found /]

The Tide has started out strong in games as well — at least, they have in regards to scoring. They’ve now outscored their opponents 107-9 in the first quarter.

What might be even more impressive is with the 38-point differential against Tennessee, Alabama has now outscored its first five conference opponents 238-38, becoming the first team to ever do so.

It’s scary to think about the 70-point differential (86-16) in just the past two weeks against Arkansas and Tennessee and realize that Alabama is destroying opponents while not even looking its best.

Both beatdowns have been sloppy, and yet, neither team had a chance.

With even more top 10 teams struggling against weaker opponents in Week 8 (looking at you, Miami, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State), Alabama’s continued shredding of every opponent it encounters only shows just how much the Tide is in the driver’s seat yet again.

As far as the game against Tennessee, Alabama had a message for everyone: a decade of dominance isn’t enough.