Crimson Tide Pass Rush Disappears in Knoxville

The Alabama Crimson Tide traveled to Knoxville to face off against the Tennessee Volunteers after narrowly escaping Texas A&M. In the matchup against the Aggies, the Tide pass rush came up big with three sacks and 14 QB hurries against Haynes King. This weekend the group did not come up as big, only recording one sack and no hurries on the day.

The lone sack came from interior defensive lineman DJ Dale in the final few minutes of the second quarter to help the defense force their first turnover on downs of the game. Tennessee had been scoring at will throughout the first half and the turnover helped the team gain some momentum heading into halftime.

Teams have been scheming around projected first round pick Will Anderson Jr throughout the season and Saturday's game was no different. The Vols kept this trend going and prevented Anderson from tallying a sack for the third time this season.

Anderson has only accumulated five sacks up to this point in the season and does not appear to be on track to match his total of 17.5 from last year.

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The unit struggled to get pressure on Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker throughout the game and allowed the senior to capitalize on numerous deep passes throughout the game. The fastball Volunteer offense continued to hit big plays that kept the front on their toes and unable to rotate fresh players in.

The only other bright spot for the unit came in the middle of the fourth quarter when Dallas Turner was able to return a fumbled handoff to score and give Alabama a seven point lead with just under eight minutes left in the game.

The team will look to regain some confidence against another high powered pass-heavy offense when Will Rogers and the Mississippi State Bulldogs come to Tuscaloosa for another top 25 matchup for the Crimson Tide. Rogers has led the SEC up to this point in pass attempts.