KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — They waited for over an hour just to get a glimpse.

Many of the onlookers wore University of Alabama colors while some sported the bright orange of Tennessee, which dictated whether they cheered or booed. Mostly though, like those in neutral colors, they wanted to see what might happen.

There were only a few yards between where the buses would stop and the visitor’s entrance at Neyland Stadium, but more than 1,000 people still crammed themselves into the places where nothing could block their view except for the dozens of police and reporters on hand.

Only Lane Kiffin’s return to Knoxville turned out to be not much of anything – which seemed to be just fine with everyone involved.

The only drama in this edition of the “Third Saturday in October” occurred when those waiting Crimson Tide fans thought for a brief moment that they were getting spit on from above, just to find out that they were only being hit by condensation.

Granted, there will always be some lingering bad feelings, like the sign flying overhead reading: “Go Vols. Beat Lane Kiffin,” and despite statements to the contrary some extra precautions were taken — including more than 25 police officers representing four different law divisions there to welcome Alabama’s buses. Two officers escorted Nick Saban to the locker room, but seven surrounded Kiffin with his California-type sunglasses, lavender shirt and purple tie.

That was it.

Too much has happened to the Volunteers since Kiffin left in January 2010. There’s been too many losing seasons (all of them), and too many problems with players. Butch Jones essentially had to start from scratch when arriving, and while Tennessee is again on the rise, it still has a ways to go.

“I don’t think it affected any of us,” Saban said after the 34-20 victory. “I really don’t.

“Lane’s done a really good job for us all year, the players like him, respond well to him. He’s really a good coach, and I think a lot of people in Tennessee are pissed off at him is because they know he’s a good coach and they were upset when he left. I get that.”

Tennessee fans were definitely reminded on Alabama’s first offensive play. Senior quarterback Blake Sims ran a play-action, bootlegged out to the right and with the linebacker biting junior wide receiver Amari Cooper was left open on the crossing route. The result was an 80-yard touchdown with Kiffin running alongside down the sideline.

“He said that he almost beat me to the touchdown,” Cooper said.

“I didn’t see it myself,” Sims said. “I was too busy running myself, I was so excited. It was a big game for me because I played against my high school teammate, A.J. Johnson.”

Alabama scored touchdowns on three of its next four drives for a 27-0 lead, and while Tennessee did come back and sort of make a game of it Cooper ended up setting the Crimson Tide record for receiving yards in a game with 224.

It wasn’t a perfect welcome back, and Alabama lost fumbles on its last two possessions, but it would do. Sort of like Kiffin’s exit.

On his way off the field, Kiffin stopped to give a 7-year-old girl his visor, which turned into a bit of a tug-of-war when those surrounding him didn’t quite realize the offensive coordinator’s intent. It caused one fan to throw something from the stands, but the only real negative consequence was the frightened girl shedding tears from the commotion.

The former head coach was later one of the last to emerge from the smoke-filled locker room — per rivalry tradition — and into the hallway where a security guard had complained about a player having lit up a cigar in a non-smoking area. Kiffin hugged some friends and smiled while heading off to the bus, again surrounded by police officers.

He didn’t have a cigar in hand, but chances were there was one tucked away in his suit pocket.