KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Third Saturday in October returns under the lights as No. 11 Tennessee hits the road to face No. 6 Alabama at 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium. The 108th meeting between the storied rivals will air on ABC, with SEC Nation and Marty & McGee on site in Tuscaloosa.
Both programs enter the matchup 5-1, with Alabama tied atop the SEC standings at 3-0 and Tennessee sitting at 2-1. The Vols have won two of the past three meetings in the series and are one of just two programs nationally—along with Michigan—with multiple victories over the Crimson Tide since the start of the 2022 season.
During his Monday press conference, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel emphasized the history, energy and opportunity surrounding the annual rivalry, which has been billed as the Third Saturday in October since 1939.
“Third Saturday in October. Great historical game, rivalry game,” Heupel said. “I know it will be a great environment against a great football team, and looking forward to it. We have to go do a great job in our preparation. You look at how they’re playing – offensively, defensively, special teams – playing at a really high level right now … This is why you come to Tennessee, to play in a game like this – a great rivalry game with Alabama.”
Heupel said a key focus for his team this week will be creating takeaways and capitalizing on turnover opportunities against an Alabama offense led by quarterback Ty Simpson.
“We need to win the turnover battle, first of all,” Heupel said. “(Ty Simpson) has been great with the football, been really sound in his decision making. You know for us, we have to go play assignment sound. You have to apply pressure to the quarterback—that’s a part of creating turnovers. You have to do a great job of matching out and making plays on the back end too, and we have to put our helmet on the football, get some punches too and try to knock it out that way.”
Tennessee, which has won two straight SEC road games and seven of its last nine league contests overall, is seeking its first win in Tuscaloosa since Oct. 25, 2003. The Crimson Tide enters Saturday tied with Boise State for the nation’s longest active home winning streak at 15 games.
Full comments from Heupel’s Monday press conference can be viewed below.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Oct. 13, 2025
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“Third Saturday in October. Great historical game, rivalry game. I know it will be a great environment against a great football team, and looking forward to it. We have to go do a great job in our preparation. You look at how they’re playing – offensively, defensively, special teams – playing at a really high level right now. Quarterback, playmakers out on the outside offensively for them, and defensively, done a great job throughout the last few weeks here. Pass defense is one of the top in the country, and their front seven is big, strong, physical and athletic. It’ll be a great test. This is why you come to Tennessee, to play in a game like this – a great rivalry game with Alabama.”
On comparing Ty Simpson’s journey to Joey Aguilar’s and how two different quarterbacks can come from two different paths and be at the same place…
“Everybody’s got a journey inside of this game. You mentioned (Ty Simpson), great talent that has continued to grow as a player. You can see that in the way that he is playing right now. Playing with a lot of confidence, a great decision-maker, taking care of the football and has the ability to use his feet to extend and make plays too, so he’s done a great job. Joey’s path was Joey’s path. He’s continued to grow, get better and is doing a great job for us.”
On Ty Simpson taking care of the football and generating turnovers against the Tide…
“Well, we need to win the turnover battle, first of all. He’s been great with the football, been really sound in his decision making. You know for us, we have to go play assignment sound. You have to apply pressure to the quarterback. That’s a part of creating turnovers. You have to do a great job of matching out and making plays on the back end too, and we have to put our helmet on the football, get some punches too and try to knock it out that way.”
On how Tennessee’s defense can improve on 3rd-and-long situations…
“We have to play assignment sound. I think that’s where it starts. There are things that we control that can allow us to go execute at a higher level.”
On Jourdan Thomas’ impact in his role as a student assistant…
“Jourdan’s a guy that demonstrates everything that’s good about Tennessee Football. He cares about his teammates more than he cares about himself. Through all the ups and downs, the hardship that he’s faced, he’s been a great teammate, continued to fight his way through it and sees a future inside of this game. Jourdan can do whatever he wants to. He could go be an elite preacher, impact people that way. He could be in the business world. He’s going to find a tremendous amount of success. I think it’s cool that he sees something in coaching about impacting other people in a passion that he still has. I’m really proud of who he is, how he goes about his business and how he’s helped this football team.”
On the development of the Tennessee wide receiver room since fall camp…
“(Kelsey Pope) and our wide receiver staff did a great job. Starting when we got back here in January, having an individual plan for those guys on specific areas that they needed to grow in. And then collectively as a group, continuing to push them every day, Coach Pope does a great job teaching fundamentals, defensive concepts, understanding the scheme, the nuances of playing that position, and the guys have invested in a great way. You reap rewards not always on your time, but you reap them if you continue to invest, and those guys have. Because of who they are and how they competed, they have put themselves in a position to go make plays and have done that.”
On Braylon Staley’s performance against Arkansas…
“Braylon has played at a really high level. Braylon played that way on Saturday because he’s full of confidence, because of how he works. Really from the time he got here, he just continues to progress in his development. I think it’s cool that you’ve seen different wide receivers on a given Saturday, be the lead guy for whatever reason – coverage, call, whatever it might be. Braylon has made a tremendous amount of plays, but Saturday was a great day for him.”
On David Sanders Jr. and William Satterwhite rotating on the offensive line against Arkansas…
“I thought both of them handled themselves really well. (Satterwhite) with his hand on the ball, different defensive structures, unknowns going into it. I thought he handled things extremely well, including the adjustments on the sideline. David played really well as well. Continues to just, from being out to now, getting all the reps in practice, just continues to get better. I’ve got great trust in those guys and like I’ve said, we’re going to need them all.”
On the rush defense’s performance in recent outings…
“At times we’ve played it extremely well. In particular, early the other night, we didn’t. Some of it was just fits off of our rotations and what we’re seeing from them scheme-wise. Some of it was just destructing blocks and making plays, tackling. As the game went on, we sure handled it in a better way. We just have to start faster.”
On DeSean Bishop’s status and the running back rotation…
“I feel like DeSean will be ready to go in this one, but we trust all those guys. (Peyton Lewis) had a great game the other night, finished it off in four-minute in a really, really good way. A couple of goal-line situations. (Star Thomas) has played really well throughout the course of the year, and the young guys are ready to go play too.”
On if he is seeing improvement in the tackling since the bye week…
“I just talked about it. Early in the football game, I didn’t think we did a good job in that. As the game went on, we did a lot better.”
On losing headset communication during the third quarter against Arkansas…
“I thought we handled it well. Different defensive structure, personnel from what we were seeing in the first half too, and the guys operated really well. We have to go finish that drive, but it’s a unique situation. Felt like junior high football for a little bit, but it was handled well.”
