KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 14 Tennessee leaned on its defense and the legs of DeSean Bishop to knock off No. 6 Alabama 26-10 on Saturday in Knoxville, handing the Crimson Tide a second loss in a row.
Bishop finished with 159 rushing yards and both Volunteer touchdowns. He was held to 64 yards in the first half before piling up 95 more after the break, and he capped a fourth-quarter march that ate 9 minutes, 32 seconds of clock with a 5-yard scoring run.
Quarterback George MacIntyre was efficient, hitting 21 of 31 throws for 197 yards, as Tennessee won for the third straight week and moved to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Southeastern Conference play.
The first half belonged to the defenses. Cooper Ranvier booted four field goals and the Vols took a 12-10 lead into the locker room, while Alabama managed only 93 yards and failed on all seven of its third-down chances before halftime.
Alabama ended the night with 201 total yards, only 54 of them on the ground, and gave the ball away four times on two lost fumbles and two interceptions thrown by Keelon Russell. Russell passed for 147 yards and accounted for the Tide touchdown on a 19-yard run. Receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams sat out with several injuries, among them a concussion.
The loss drops Alabama to 5-2 and 3-2 in the league. It is the first time since 2007 that the Tide has dropped back-to-back regular-season games, coming a week after a loss to No. 1 Georgia.
Tennessee, which lost 15 straight to Alabama before this recent run, has now beaten the Tide three times in the last five meetings, and all three wins came at home. Alabama returns home next Saturday to face Texas A&M.
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