KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 14/14 Tennessee begins the second half of its 2026 campaign with one of the most storied rivalry games in college football, as No. 6/7 Alabama visits Neyland Stadium this Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ABC.
After a narrow defeat to then No. 1 ranked Texas in their SEC opener, the Volunteers have reeled off two straight conference wins and will look to keep their positive momentum going this weekend in the annual Third Saturday in October showdown against the Crimson Tide.
“The Third Saturday in October is coming up, and it’s a great opportunity,” head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday afternoon. “We’re playing a really good football team. You look at how they’re playing three phases of the game and it’s a huge test for us, but it’s one we’re looking forward to.”
Despite coming off a hard-fought three-point loss to Georgia last Saturday, Alabama has been one of the nation’s most impressive teams through the first half of the season and will present one of the most challenging tests on UT’s schedule this year.
“They are much more efficient and effective with running the football and with their quarterback,” Heupel said. “He’s throwing extremely efficiently: bunch of yards, extends and makes plays with his feet, scrambles to run and throws the football down the field if you’re not matching things out, so for us defensively, it’s a massive test.
“Their defense is big and strong, physical, and very active. They’ve made it difficult to run the football and not give up a ton of explosives. They’ve gotten their hands on a bunch of balls and created turnovers as well.”
The Third Saturday in Full Color
As announced in August, both teams will don their “home” jerseys for Saturday’s contest as part of a two-year agreement between both administrations and coaching staffs, bringing back an old tradition in the rivalry.
This will be the first time since Oct. 17, 1970, in Neyland Stadium during former head coach Bill Battle’s first season that the teams will wear orange and crimson jerseys, respectively. The Vols won that contest 24-0, behind a school-record eight interceptions, including three from Tim Priest.
The 2027 meeting in Tuscaloosa will see UT wear orange jersey tops for the first time ever in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
A transcript of Heupel’s Monday press conference can be seen below.
Head Coach Josh Heupel Transcript (Oct. 12, 2026)
Opening statement…
“Good Afternoon. The third Saturday in October is coming up, and it’s a great opportunity. We’re playing a really good football team. You look at how they’re playing three phases of the game and it’s a huge test for us, but it’s one we’re looking forward to. I encourage our fans to take advantage of the half priced happy hour and get hydrated for the football game on Saturday afternoon.”
On who the starting quarterback will be against Alabama…
“We’ll find out through the week. So, we’ll get on the grass tomorrow and work towards Saturday.”
On the importance of live practice reps in the anticipation of the game…
“Certainly helps. It helps everybody. The more reps you get, the better prepared you are, having gone through the looks and made those throws.”
On what he liked and didn’t like about George’s performance…
“I thought he was decisive with the football. He was going to the right spot and made some plays. He did some things inside of the pocket that were really positive. The third down, makes a guy miss, keeps his eyes down the football field. Collectively as a group, we have to do a better job of taking care of the football. We have to play smarter and not make it more difficult on ourselves, with pre-snap penalties or whatever it might be. So, there’s a lot to clean up collectively as a group, but he did a good job.”
On what makes Alabama such a huge test compared to last year…
“They are much more efficient and effective with running the football. Their quarterback is dynamic player. He’s throwing extremely efficiently. Bunch of yards, extends, makes plays with his feet, scrambles to run, but also throws the football down the field if you’re not matching things out. So, for us defensively, it’s a massive test. Their defense is big and strong, physical up front and second level, very active. They’ve made it difficult to run the football and not give up a ton of explosives. They’ve gotten their hands on a bunch of balls and created turnovers as well.”
On how DeSaahn Brame continues to progress…
“I think his best football is still ahead of him. I anticipated him being in and playing a bigger role than he did a year ago. Just maturity, growth and understanding of what we’re doing offensively. Ethan (Davis) goes down, and we knew that role was going to continue to increase. He’s done a really good job in pass game but done a good job without the ball in his hands as well and I feel like he’s playing really well.”
On his evaluation of Tennessee’s offense versus Arkansas…
“In general, we had some opportunities to make some plays down the field. We did at times and didn’t at times. There’s some things in the run game that we have to be better at. The five down look isn’t something that we’ve haven’t seen previously before, but all in all, the biggest thing offensively for us is how do we not change the situation on our own? That’s missed assignment, penalties, where we’re playing behind the sticks.”
On what the difference was in the run game during the fourth quarter…
“Efficiency, it’s blocking, it’s making a guy miss. It’s a combination of all guys doing their job at a really high level.”
On getting the run game going earlier in the game…
“Well, sometimes the run game doesn’t just pop right off the bat. There’s a totality to the run game, the physical nature of the game too.”
On Radarius Jacksons recent performances…
“I really like the way Radarius (Jackson) has played, sometimes, just coverage situations, whatever it might be, the ball doesn’t find its way to him. He’s done a really good job though.”
On if there’s a video of Braylon Staley stepping out of bounds on his illegal touching penalty…
“On the coach’s footage it looked like it was close, you know, the official threw the hat right away when he thought he identified it.”
On TK Keys and Travis Smith Jr’s status…
“Continuing to grow and develop, both of those guys got some snaps the other day and, you know, just the flow of the game. It played out the way it did but anticipate those guys playing this Saturday.”
On DaSaahn Brame’s confidence after his big catch and run on Saturday…
“I think he was confident before he made that play, but it can certainly continue to spur that on.”
On o-line continuity and the performance of Nic Moore at left guard…
“Yeah, some continuity, yes, there’s some things we’ve got to do better up front. There’s things Nic’s got to do better, but holistically it was good enough to get a win. We’re going to need to be better up front in this one.”
On his assessment of the defensive line during the third quarter of the Arkansas game…
“Gap integrity, block destruction, tackling fundamentals, all go into how you play. So, you got to be consistent in that.”
On the unscouted looks Tennessee is getting this year…
“I think there’s always, you know, week to week, some subtle tweaks that coordinators are going to throw in there off of what they’re seeing. Less extravagant departures from structure than maybe in previous years.”
