When wondering how this season’s Alabama-Tennessee matchup got so out of hand, look no further than the Tide’s defensive pressure, which was key to the team’s impressive 49-10 road win.

The defense has been the team’s strong point all season, but the secondary looked shaky at certain points, especially against Ole Miss and Arkansas. Both of those opponents accumulated 400 yards or more through the air. However, Ole Miss and Arkansas have more weapons than Tennessee.

Tennessee had two options to try and beat Alabama on offense: long passes to explosive receiver Josh Malone or a series of short completions to methodically move down the field. The team tried both, the former in the first half and the latter in the second half.

Alabama bottled up Alvin Kamara and Jalen Hurd, as the team did against Rawleigh Williams III and Devwah Whaley last week and Stanley “Boom” Williams the previous week, so Tennessee’s running game was never a factor. In last season’s tight 19-14 game between the two teams, Jalen Hurd had success against Alabama and was a big factor in the team keeping the game close.

That wasn’t the case this season as Alabama held Tennessee to just 32 yards rushing (exactly 1 yard per carry) this season.

Because Tennessee’s ground game was ineffective, the team had to pass the ball. While the secondary has struggled at times, the team’s pass rush has masked the defense’s one area of vulnerability. That was never more evident in Neyland Stadium as the Crimson Tide contained Tennessee by applying intense pressure.

Malone entered the game ranked second in the SEC in terms of yards per reception at 20.1 yards per catch. Malone managed just 5 receptions for 61 yards, a respectable number, but he wasn’t able to make an impact.

When Tennessee tried to execute longer passes, Alabama was able to get to quarterback Joshua Dobbs. On the team’s opening offensive drive, Tim Williams had a huge sack on 3rd-and-13 to force Tennessee to punt the ball. On the Volunteers’ next offensive drive, Jonathan Allen recorded a quarterback sack on 3rd-and-17, forcing another punt. Reuben Foster recorded Alabama’s third sack of the game on Tennessee’s third offensive drive.

And it was on the fourth offensive drive for UT that pressure resulted in maybe the biggest play of the game, a 58-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ronnie Harrison that boosted Alabama to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

By the second half, Tennessee turned to short passes to limited success. The strategy resulted in a higher number of completions, but Alabama showed strong open-field tackling to limit Tennessee’s first downs.

It’s also worth noting Tennessee limited Alabama during the second quarter by applying intense pressure of its own. Of five offensive possessions during the quarter, Alabama had a punt, fumble, touchdown, interception and a turnover on downs. Derek Barnett forced the fumble that helped put Tennessee in position for its lone touchdown of the game. Additionally, the interception came while Alabama was in the red zone and likely saved Tennessee at least 3 points.

Alabama’s success running the ball opened up the passing game in the second half, and Tennessee received fewer opportunities to apply pressure. Meanwhile, Alabama continued to make Dobbs’ life difficult.

Even if the team didn’t tally sacks in the second half, it continued to force Dobbs to make passes under pressure while setting up shop in the Vols’ backfield. For the day, Alabama finished with 10 tackles for loss, matching the team’s season high from last week against Arkansas.

Of course, this is nothing new for Alabama, which entered the week as the SEC leader in sacks (24), and it was a constant factor in maybe the Tide’s most impressive win yet.