In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the Tennessee Volunteers’ aspirations for the College Football Playoff have taken a hit following their 20-37 defeat to Alabama. This loss marks Tennessee’s 11th consecutive setback against the Crimson Tide when playing on their home turf, with the Vols’ last victory in Alabama dating back to 2003.

After losing the coin toss, Tennessee began on offense but quickly faltered. The Alabama defense forced a swift three-and-out, aided by a false start penalty against the Vols on just the second play, setting an early tone for the game.

Tennessee’s defense initially showed promise, managing a tackle for loss and forcing an incomplete pass to create a third-and-long scenario. However, Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson broke through with an 18-yard completion to Josh Cuevas, extending the drive. Simpson then followed up with a 31-yard pass to Ryan Williams, advancing Alabama into the red zone.

The Crimson Tide capitalized on this momentum, taking an early 7-0 lead as Simpson connected with Isaiah Horton for a 2-yard touchdown pass.

On Tennessee’s subsequent possession, facing a third-and-long, Joey Aguilar delivered a crucial 17-yard pass to Chris Brazzell, maintaining the drive’s momentum. When confronted with a 4th-and-1, Miles Kitselman ran for two yards to secure a first down. Unfortunately for Tennessee, Aguilar was sacked for the second time in the opening quarter, forcing the Vols to punt once again.

After one quarter of play, Tennessee had ran for negative 19 yards, thanks to two big sacks on Aguilar. The Vols had 59 passing yards, compared to 114 total yards for Alabama, 25 of those coming on the ground.

Tennessee’s defense stopped Alabama on the first drive of the second quarter, as the Tide were forced to punt.

The Vols started their third drive of the game strong, as Aguilar connected with Braylon Staley on a nine-yard pass before Peyton Lewis picked up 17 yards on the ground. Aguilar hit Mike Matthews on an 18-yard pass before he connected with Staley again, this time for 30 yards. The duo capped off the drive with a two-yard touchdown to tie the game, 7-7, while Staley picked up 41 yards on the drive.

Tennessee’s defense followed up with its second stop of the second quarter, forcing a three-and-out for the Tide.

However, the Tide defense was able to swarm Aguilar in the endzone for a safety on intentional grounding to take a 9-7 lead.

Alabama then quickly marched down the field and found the endzone again, as Jamarion Miller ran for a one-yard score to give the Tide a 16-7 advantage.

Tennessee wore down the clock and was on the one-yard line with 10 seconds left in the first half. The Vols were one yard from only being down two points at the break, but instead Joey Aguilar threw an interception to Zabien Brown who took it 99 yards to the house for the pick-six. That costly turnover gave the Tide a 23-7 lead at halftime.

However, Tennessee went to work quickly to start the second half on both sides of the ball. The Vols forced a quick three-and-out and then scored on the other end. DeSean Bishop broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run to pull the Vols within 10.

Josh Heupel went for the two-point conversion, however, Joey Aguilar threw his second interception of the night to keep the score at 23-13, Alabama.

Tennessee’s defense forced a fumble on the very next drive as Joshua Josephs recovered the loose ball from Simpson. However, the Vols were not able to capitalize and the offense was off the field quick on a three-and-out.

Alabama then made it a 30-13 game at the end of the third quarter as Simpson threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Rico Scott to extend the Tide’s lead to 17 to start the fourth quarter.

The Vols then pulled within 10 on a DeSean Bishop touchdown run, his second score of the night.

On the return, the Tide struggled to make it back from their 25-yard line, with a zero-yard run followed by an incompletion. They got 15 yards closer on a Tennessee penalty for pass interference, which Daniel Hill followed up with a 10 yard run. Tennessee had a second pass interference penalty, giving the Tide another 15 yards to the Vols’ 35-yard line.

After a three-yard pass from Simpson to Germie Bernard and two runs by Hill, Tennessee missed a chance at an interception on an incomplete pass from Simpson to Cuevas. The Tide found another touchdown two plays later with a four-yard run by Hill. With a successful extra point, Alabama extended their lead to 37-20 with 5:47 left in the game.

On the return, the Vols took a fair catch, followed by a 10-yard pass from Aguilar to Arion Carter and a first down. After an incomplete pass to Dasaahn Brame, Aguilat completed a 20-yard pass to Staley. With another successful pass from Aguilar to Brazzell, the Vols picked up 19 yards to get to the Alabama 26-yard line.

After an incomplete pass, Alabama gave up 10 yards with a pass interferene penalty. While that gave the Vols a first down at the 26-yard line, the Vols had an incomplete passe and a negative four-yard pass from Aguilar to Brazzell, leaving them at second and 14 at Alabama’s 29 yardline. Aguilar made a three-yard pass to Brazzell, followed up by an incomplete pass to Staley, which turned the ball back over to the Tide at their 16-yard line with 3:09 left on the clock.

The Vols managed to hold back the Tide for the first three runs, leaving Alabama at 3rd-and-7 after a five yard run. With an incomplete pass bringing the tide to fourth down, the ball was punted back 41 yards to Tennessee’s 35-yard line.

With just over a minute left in the final quarter, Aguilar completed two passes to Brame, gaining 28 yards, and followed by another 15-yard pass to Peyton Lewis to get the Vols to Alabama’s 22 yard line on first down. As the Vols closed in on the chance to pick up another touchdown, the Tide gave up to penalties, one for holding and another another for pass interference, that got the Vols to the two yard line.

Although Aguilar gave up two yards with a pass to Peyton Lewis, that was eliminated with a pass interference penalty on Alabama on the next play. After a one-yard run by Lewis, the Vols suffered a four-yard penalty for a false start. With a final incomplete pass by Aguilar and a five-yard run by Lewis, the game ended for the Vols at Alabama’s one-yard line. The Tide took home their 11th straight win against Tennessee in Tuscaloosa 37-20.

UP NEXT: The Vols travel to Lexington to take on unranked Kentucky next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7:45 and you can catch the game on SEC Network.