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    • Tennessee beats Alabama on Nico Iamaleava TD pass, defensive stop
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    Tennessee beats Alabama on Nico Iamaleava TD pass, defensive stop

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    No. 10 Tennessee rallied from a scoreless first half on Saturday to defeat No. 7 Alabama 24-17 at Neyland Stadium in the final chapter of their rivalry on the third Saturday in October.

    It’s a big boost for the Vols’ chances of making the 12-team College Football Playoff.

    Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) took a 21-17 lead on Nico Iamaleava’s 16-yard touchdown pass to a diving Chris Brazzell with 5:52 remaining.

    Alabama (5-2, 2-2) failed on a fourth down play with 1:48 remaining. And UT added a 41-yard field goal by Max Gilbert to extend the lead to 24-17 with 1:30 remaining.

    Then UT safety Will Brooks, a walk-on, intercepted Alabama’s Jalen Milroe to seal the victory.

    The Vols defeated Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide at Neyland Stadium in 2022. This time, they eliminated Kalen DeBoer’s squad in front of a deafening sellout crowd.

    The Vols are now entering their second open week of the season. They play Kentucky on Nov. 2 at Neyland Stadium.

    But let’s end this win over Alabama with these five takeaways.

    Dylan Sampson TDs got Tennessee back in it

    After a scoreless first half, UT scored two touchdowns in the third quarter for a 14-10 lead.

    Dylan Sampson, the SEC’s rushing and scoring leader, recorded both TDs. He rushed for 53 yards on four carries on a 91-yard drive, including the 2-yard score.

    And Sampson scored a 2-yard TD on one play after Nico Iamaleava completed a 55-yard pass to Dont’e Thornton.

    The lead did not last long. Alabama responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive to go ahead 17-14 in what became a back-and-forth fourth quarter.

    Sampson finished with 139 yards rushing on 26 carries and two touchdowns. He has 17 rushing TDs, one shy of Gene McEver’s 1929 UT single-season record.

    Nico Iamaleava started slowly but recovered

    Iamaleava had an up and down outing. He struggled mightily in the first half and recovered in the second half.

    He finished 14 of 27 passing for 194 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for 44 yards.

    Iamaleava was off target on four of his first seven passes. Two overturned deep throws were the most expensive because they would have gone for touchdowns. And he threw an interception near the goal line to squander a scoring opportunity in the second quarter.

    Iamaleava also had a 27-yard run and the long pass to Thornton that set up Sampson’s two TDs. He then hit Brazzell on the go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter.

    The Vols offense once again had a scoreless first half

    UT committed three first-half turnovers for the first time in coach Josh Heupel’s four-year tenure. And it came away scoreless in four drives that ended in Alabama territory.

    The result was UT’s third straight scoreless first half for the first time since 1963. That had never happened before during Heupel’s tenure before this period.

    UT drove to the Alabama 18-yard line on the opening drive, but Sampson fumbled for the first time in his career.

    UT cornerback Jermod McCoy intercepted a Milroe pass in the end zone and returned it 54 yards. But Iamaleava overthrew a wide-open Squirrel White for what would have been a TD pass, and Max Gilbert missed a 53-yard field goal.

    Iamaleava missed one play due to injury, and backup quarterback Gaston Moore threw an interception. After Iamaleava returned, he threw an interception near the goal line to squander another scoring opportunity. And UT also missed a 50-yard field goal late in the second quarter.

    Stingy defense kept Tennessee in the game

    As bad as UT’s offense was in the first half, the defense was just as good.

    The Vols pressured Milroe, made a stop on third down and picked off a pass in the end zone.

    Alabama had three three-and-out possessions in the first half. It committed that turnover in the end zone. And just before halftime, it missed a 54-yard field goal.

    Alabama only reached paydirt after an eight-play, 64-yard drive in the first quarter. Milroe threw a 5-yard TD pass to Ryan Williams for a 7-0 lead.

    UT’s defensive stops gave the offense time to finally get into a groove for a 14-10 lead late in the third quarter. Alabama jumped back 17-14 early in the fourth quarter.

    Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football reporter. E-mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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