Don’t call it a comeback.

Or do call it a comeback because that’s exactly what it took for Alabama to survive Tennessee. After facing its first double-digit halftime deficit since the 2021 Texas A&M game, Alabama roared back in the second half to fend off the Vols with a 34-20 victory.

Here are 3 takeaways from a wild Saturday in Tuscaloosa:

1. That was a championship second half by Alabama

Dominance. Pure, dominance.

After trailing 20-7 at half — the largest home halftime deficit since the 2019 LSU game — Alabama roared back with a 27-0 second half. After 2 first-half turnovers, Jalen Milroe didn’t turn the ball over in the second half. He led a pair of third-quarter touchdown drives, including a 46-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond just 41 seconds into the second half.

Saturday marked the 4th time that Alabama had a halftime deficit this season, which is the most ever for a Nick Saban team at Alabama. But that marked the first time that the Tide overcame a multi-score halftime deficit since the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship against Georgia.

2. Holy second-half collapse, Vols

Hey, 2 things can be true at the same time. As great as the Vols looked in a first half that saw them sprint out to that aforementioned 20-7 lead at the break, the second half was equally awful. The Vols had a 275-133 yards advantage at halftime and Joe Milton played the best 2 quarters of his career — he was 16-for-22 yards for 175 yards and 2 scores in the first half — which included a beautiful throw and catch to Squirrel White for the game’s first score.

But for whatever reason, the Vols fell apart in all 3 phases. There was the weird unintentional fair catch on that kickoff, the defense suddenly failed to pressure Jalen Milroe and Milton’s poise came undone. Tennessee still had a chance to tie the game late, but Milton took a costly sack and coughed off the football. A scoop and score by Jihaad Campbell was the nail in the coffin.

That was the second consecutive week that the Vols failed to lead an offensive scoring drive in the second half. But more alarming was watching the coverage busts and lack of run discipline by the Tennessee defense.

That lopsided second half likely eliminated the Vols’ division title hopes.

3. Now, we get an SEC West Championship with Alabama and LSU

Stop me if you’ve heard that before.

Remember when we heard about how chaotic of a year this was? Well, Alabama and LSU will now battle to get a stranglehold on the West.

Both teams will have a bye in Week 9 before the Tigers make the trip to Tuscaloosa. Tennessee failed to become the first team to beat Alabama in consecutive years since Ole Miss in 2014-15. Can LSU accomplish that feat and set itself up to repeat as West champs for the first time since the SEC Championship became a thing?

All eyes will be on Tuscaloosa on Nov. 4.