Alabama didn’t leave any box unchecked in the box score when it came to dismembering Tennessee, 49-10, in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.

Here are five areas that led to the lopsided score in Rocky Top.

Ground game guides offensive explosion

Alabama’s running game was relentless and came from all different sources against the banged-up Tennessee defense. The Tide went for 438 rushing yards, the most by an Alabama team since 1986. Coincidentally, that performance also came against the Vols in Knoxville, a 457-yard performance that led to a 56-28 win.

Jalen Hurts (132) and Bo Scarbrough (109) both hit the 100-yard mark, while Damien Harris fell just short (94). B.J. Emmons (38), Joshua Jacobs (38) and even receiver ArDarius Stewart (29-yard TD) were all effective when getting carries.

For the game, the Tide rolled up 594 total yards, the most ever by an Alabama team against Tennessee. It was also the most by the school since 2010 (591 vs. San Jose State) and the 16th-most in a game in school history.

Stonewalled Vols

Meanwhile, life was miserable for Tennessee’s offense. A week after going for 684 yards against Texas A&M, the third-most in program history, the Vols could only manage 163 against the Tide.

While Alabama did whatever it wanted on the ground, Tennessee only managed to get just as many rushing yards as it did carries (32). The 163 total yards and 32 yards were both season-lows.

The last time Tennessee had such an abysmal offensive showing? That also came against a top-ranked Alabama team in 2011, when the Vols were held to 155 total yards in a 37-6 loss.

Bama’s big plays

You can’t say we weren’t aware of the fact that chunk plays were going to be a factor in this matchup, evidenced by this tweet on Friday morning that focused on the Tide’s underrated aerial attack.

Well, Alabama’s explosive offense certainly took advantage against a leaky Tennessee defense when it came to 20-yard plays from scrimmage, but in the run game (7) even more so than the passing game (3). Here’s a breakdown of the Tide’s big plays in the contest.

20-yd plays — 10
30-yd plays — 2
40-yd plays — 2
50-yd plays — 1

Defensive touchdown

The Crimson Tide’s ball-hawking ways on defense is remarkable. The unit resembles some of the most opportunistic defenses I’ve seen in my lifetime, and the Baltimore Ravens with Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Co. is the group that comes to mind. These group of players aren’t just looking for takeaways, they’re looking to take it for a score every chance they get.

With Ronnie Harrison’s 58-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter, that puts the Tide’s total at eight for the season. What’s even crazier is the fact that seven different Alabama players have scored those touchdowns. Harrison is the only one to score twice.

Of Alabama’s 42 touchdowns, nearly 20 percent of them have come from the defense.

Defensive pressure

Alabama set the tone against Tennessee by making a living in its backfield right from the start. The Tide got all three of its sacks in the Vols’ first three possessions of the game (one in each) that forced punts.

Then, the fourth drive for Tennessee ended with QB Josh Dobbs getting hurried and throwing a pass to Jalen Hurd only to see DB Ronnie Harrison take it 58 yards the other way to the house.

Go figure, all four of those big plays came in 3rd-and-long situations. Each and every one of them.

Although Alabama didn’t register any sacks for the rest of the game, the pressure made its way behind the line of scrimmage all game long. The Tide had 10 tackles for loss, matching the team’s season-high from last week against Arkansas.

Alabama hadn’t posted back-to-back performances with 10 tackles for loss since 2011 (10 vs. Arkansas, 11 vs. Florida).