Three Takeaways from Alabama vs Tennessee

This past weekend, Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide made it 11 straight against their rivals of Knoxville the Tennessee Volunteers defeating them 45-7.

The Crimson Tide collected over 600 yards of offense while the defense held the Vols to only a touchdown off a pick-6 thrown by Tua Tagovailoa, but held off the Vols on a fourth down goal-line stance and presented presser on quarterback Jarrett Guarantano every time he dropped back in the pocket.

Here are three takeaways from Alabama's win over the Volunteers:

Josh Jacobs will be the next great Alabama running back

With so much talent in the running back core, Nick Saban has seem to go with whoever has the hot hand in the backfield. This season, the main duo has been Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough which we knew going into this season. But one stand out back getting a lot of attention is sophomore Josh Jacobs. Although he only had eight carries for 47 yards, the speed and talent this running back has he will secure his spot as the top back in country in a few years. Him and Najee Harris could be the Bo and Damien of this year and I think if that happens, Jacobs will fill the role of Damien as the leading role with the hot hand. His ability to catch out the back field and his rushing will be a thing a beauty for years to come. Jacobs rushed for 171 yards so far this season with 96 yards receiving including 24 yards in the game this past weekend.

Backup quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is dangerous

In this game we figured something out we already knew, Tua is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in college football when he gets the chance. He threw for 134 yards with nine completions and although he threw a pick-6 to give the Volunteers their only points for the game, he pocket presence looks more like a 4-year senior than a freshman quarterback. The offense are a much better passing team with Tua under center, however we still need to see how he could carry a game from start to finish instead of playing with the second string defense. This is a good problem to have because some programs struggle to find one quarterback, so it's good Alabama has two they can lean on. This is still Jalen's job to lose and I don't see it happening this season. But Tua's talent is going to be great to watch for years to come.

This rivalry died right in front of my eyes

The Third Saturday of October has been one of the longest rivalries in college football, but unless they can get a coach fans can get behind, this rivalry will take a slow turn for the worse. It's hard to get behind a team that's playing so bad on the field, but the Volunteers fans didn't even pretend. From Jon Gruden signs to we want Southern Miss behind the Tennessee bench, the fans of the Volunteers seemed to be uninspired. I saw more confidence with Colorado State fans than I did a team that has played Alabama 99 times before and has had memorable moments. It was a generational thing, the older fans were trying to keep it alive while the younger ones just wanted to party, could careless how their team performed. Hopefully change at the coaching position can bring the momentum back in this rivalry, if not this rivalry is on it's death bed for the time being.