Paul Finebaum evaluates state of Tennessee football ahead of Third Saturday in October

It’s almost the Third Saturday in October and there’s plenty on the line this time around.

Tennessee hosts Alabama on Saturday in a battle between 2 of the most confusing teams in the conference. Alabama earned one of the best wins of the season against Georgia but has since fallen to Vanderbilt and very nearly South Carolina.

The Vols, on the other hand, have completely fallen apart on offense. Dylan Sampson and his 15 rushing touchdowns on the year is saving what has been one of the worst performing offenses of Josh Heupel’s career as a head coach – and by far his worst at Tennessee thus far.

The passing attack has been almost nonexistent for Tennessee, thanks in part to some horrendous pass protection up front. But Nico Iamaleava has not been good enough either. Is it just a redshirt freshman not seeing the field as well as anticipated or something much deeper within the offensive scheme?

On Monday, Paul Finebaum delved into the upcoming matchup and whether or not Vols fans should be anxious moving forward this season. Here’s what he had to say:

“There’s no way (Tennessee fans) are going to relax with Alabama coming to town. This is a fairly similar path we were talking about with Alabama but for very different reasons,” Finebaum said. “It’s amazing what this one game will do, both positively and negatively for both programs. You could have looked at this game in July and said that could be the biggest game of the year if you’re Tennessee. It didn’t feel that way going in with Alabama.”

“For Tennessee, a loss here — knowing that they have to go to Georgia — that’s probably going to be the dagger,” Finebaum continued. “I don’t know how you fix these problems. They’re pretty self-evident what the problems are offensively. You just have to use Scotch tape and try to hold them together until the end of Saturday afternoon. Josh Heupel, the QB whisperer, the offensive genius, that’s all open for conversation and discussion at the moment.”

The Vols and Crimson Tide will be must-see TV when Jalen Milroe is on the field Saturday. Tennessee’s defense is carrying the team in a major way right now, and it’s perfectly fair to say the Vols have one of the best units in the country – though with leader Keenan Pili out for what could be a while, the Vols D might take a slight hit. We’ll hopefully learn more about Pili’s injury Monday afternoon.

Alabama’s defense vs. Tennessee’s offense, on the other hand, is not likely to be a pretty sight. The advantage likely goes to Tennessee given the Vols are at home, but it really just depends on who decides to show up at 3:30 from Knoxville.

This X user summed up Week 8’s upcoming battle between Alabama’s defense and Tennessee’s offense perfectly:

Stoppable force vs Movable object

— Coleman Coliseum burner (@ColemanCha64765) October 13, 2024

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.