Rocky Top on top: Numbers behind Tennessee’s big win against Alabama

The No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers completed an SEC clash for the ages in one of the biggest games of the 2022 college football season.

With a 52-49 win, Tennessee snapped a 15-game losing streak against Alabama courtesy of a go-ahead 40-yard field goal by Chase McGrath.

The Vols’ 52 points were the most allowed by Alabama since a 1907 game against Sewanee (54).

It was also just the third game across Nick Saban’s collegiate and professional head coaching career where his team allowed at least 52 points — and the first instance since a 1999 game between Michigan State and then-No. 20 Purdue.

Fans near and far from the college football world weighed in on the historic matchup.

The final score is far from the only staggering number the Vols put up. Here are some other notable numbers from the rivalry game:

1: Tennessee started the game on an impressive note as the first team to score a touchdown on its opening drive against Alabama this season.

4: The Volunteers continued to find the end zone on their next two drives. This was just the fourth time in the Nick Saban era at Alabama where the defense allowed a touchdown on its opponent’s first three offensive possessions.

Tennessee has beat four ranked opponents this season (No. 17 Pitt, No. 20 Florida, No. 25 LSU, No.3 Alabama).

The last team to have four ranked wins within their first six games was LSU in 2011 and only five other teams have accomplished this feat the AP Poll era.

5: It was the Jalin Hyatt and Hendon Hooker show at Neyland Stadium. The duo connected for five touchdowns. Hyatt became the first player to have at 200 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns in a game since former Crimson Tide wideout DeVonta Smith in 2019.

Hooker is the first player with multiple games of 350 passing yards and five passing touchdowns in program history.

The offensive firepower gave legendary former Tennessee signal caller Peyton Manning more than enough reasons to light a victory cigar.

28: Entering Saturday, Alabama’s season-high for points allowed in a game this season was 26 against Arkansas. Tennessee eclipsed that total in the first half alone with 28 points, its most in any game versus Alabama since 2007.

136: This was the 136th top-10 matchup in SEC history, but only one of the previous 135 featured 100 combined points. It ties the 2013 game where No. 3 Auburn beat No. 5 Missouri, 52-49, as the highest scoring top-10 matchup in SEC history.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this story.

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