Grade: C

Tennessee again had to turn to Jarrett Guarantano after freshman starter Brian Maurer was knocked out of the game, but unlike the win against Mississippi State, the redshirt junior was unable to deliver with a pair of vital mistakes marring a performance with some positives.

The most glaring error was the fumble at the goal line that turned into an Alabama touchdown, resulting in a 14-point swing that essentially ended the game. The rest of the offense appeared to think Quavaris Crouch was going to get a handoff over the left side of the line, but Guarantano improvised by trying to quickly jump over the top of the pile and extend the ball across the goal line. Whether it was a miscommunication or Guarantano freelancing, it was the worst of mistakes.

In the second quarter, Guarantano overthrew Jauan Jennings, who left his defender in the dust with a beautiful double move, on a would-be touchdown pass that would have tied the game at 14. On the positive side, Guarantano converted third downs with completions to Jennings, Marquez Callaway and Ty Chandler to extend drives. He was sacked twice on two other third downs and at other times didn't pull the trigger on a throw when it was open or held the ball too long.

On his three-plus series, Maurer threw an interception that wasn't his fault as Jennings bobbled it into a defender's hands. He also had an impressive pass to Josh Palmer on a back-shoulder throw to convert a third down on the drive he ended with a touchdown on a sneak. Maurer completed 5 of 7 passes for 62 yards and was responsible for all three of Tennessee's completions of 15-plus yards before exiting the game.

Grade: A-

Tim Jordan played arguably the best game of his Tennessee career with 94 yards on 17 carries. The junior showed good vision on a couple of cutback runs and seemed to break tackles and push the pile forward on a number of occasions. Jordan has given the Vols a tough, hard-nosed runner capable of picking up the dirty yards between the tackles and after contact, and he showed nice speed on a 33-yard burst through the left side.

Ty Chandler got just four carries as Tennessee rode the hot hand with Jordan. Chandler ripped off a 25-yard run in the third quarter, but his other three carries netted minus-2 yards. Freshman Eric Gray chipped in 12 yards on three carries as Tennessee's top three backs totaled 129 yards on 24 carries (5.4 yards per carry).

Tennessee entered the game with five runs of 20-plus yards this season and Chandler and Jordan each had one on Saturday night, but Jordan was penalized (correctly) for a holding penalty that wiped out what would have been a touchdown run by Jauan Jennings on a sweep to the left from a direct snap.

Grade: B

The Vols wound up with only 12 completions and Jauan Jennings accounted for half of them, catching six passes for 66 yards. Josh Palmer and Marquez Callaway each had just one catch, but those converted third downs, Palmer's on Tennessee's lone touchdown drive and Callaway's early in the fourth quarter. Dominick Wood-Anderson caught two passes and Austin Pope dropped a couple of passes, but both tight ends were solid as run-blockers and contributed to Tennessee's success on the ground.

On one hand, Tennessee's wideouts mostly struggled to get separation against Alabama's aggressive defensive backs, but on the other hand they drew four pass-interference penalties and Wood-Anderson was held once, too.

Jennings clearly was a focal point as the Vols got him involved with a couple of direct snaps, but his bobbling of a well-thrown Brian Maurer pass turned into an interception on Tennessee's second series and he was flagged for a holding penalty later in the first quarter.

Grade: B

Tennessee's offensive line took another step forward after the strong finish to the Mississippi State. The Vols were especially effective running to the left side behind Wanya Morris and Trey Smith, and Tennessee's front routinely got push at the line of scrimmage and also opened up some nice holes for big runs by Tim Jordan and Ty Chandler and helped push piles forward. Tennessee also converted their first four third-and-short (1-4 yards to go) situations before the ill-fated mid-fourth quarter sequence.

Of course, if Jarrett Guarantano hands the ball off to Quavaris Crouch, he almost certainly scores as the offensive line had opened up a lane for him over the left side.

The Tide still recorded four tackles for loss on a quarterback draw, two runs to the right side and the run up the middle on first-and-goal before the aforementioned fourth-quarter sequence. Freshman right tackle Darnell Wright had a rough night as he was beat twice by Alabama star edge rusher Terrell Lewis for sacks, allowed a couple other pressures off his side and was flagged twice, for a false start and holding. Right guard Jerome Carvin also allowed a couple of pressures and was flagged for holding.

However, the offensive line continues to take tangible strides forward and Saturday night was another clear step in the right direction, though the Vols still will see things they can clean up.

Grade: B-

Tennessee's run defense was a little bit feast or famine in a battle against Alabama's offensive line. The Tide won their fair share of plays at the line of scrimmage, but the Vols also won some up front, too, though Alabama still had an advantage. Najee Harris (105 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries) and Brian Robinson (seven rushes for 40 yards and a touchdown) collectively averaged better than 5 yards per carry.

Individually, Tennessee saw some of its defensive linemen flash in the game. Greg Emerson got good penetration up the middle and pressured Tua Tagovailoa on his first-quarter interception, and the big defensive lineman also chased down the Alabama quarterback for the sack that knocked the Tide star out of the game. Matthew Butler chipped in a half-tackle for loss, and Darel Middleton had a couple of nice plays, forcing a TFL in the run game and showing some nice range in tracking down a screen pass gaining minimal yardage.

The Vols continued to get solid-yet-inconsistent play up front from a group that also should keep getting better down the stretch of the season.

Grade: C+

Tennessee's outside linebackers were fairly solid against the run, but the Vols still have to bring extra defenders to generate consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The standout among this thin group on Saturday night was Kivon Bennett, who flushed Tua Tagovailoa on Emerson's sack when the Alabama quarterback was injured and earlier made a nice play to force a tackle for loss in the run game. Darrell Taylor did generate a couple of pressures and landed one big hit on backup Mac Jones.

And we're not giving a demerit to this position for the "unnecessary roughness" penalty called on Taylor for standing up after his hit on Jones.

Taylor did have a missed tackle early in the game and the Vols were fortunate Bennett wasn't exposed for a big pass play to a running back in the third quarter.

Grade: C+

Tennessee had to play the first half without star freshman Henry To'o To'o after his targeting penalty against Mississippi State and lost senior starter Daniel Bituli to a targeting penalty and ejection in the second quarter. The Vols already had to turn to freshman Quavaris Crouch for extensive snaps, and Solon Page and J.J. Peterson were called upon. Page played in Tennessee's dime defense and redshirt freshman Peterson chipped in with four tackles.

Crouch was credited for a half-tackle for loss and also made a nice play on a screen pass while also recording a pressure, Page ran himself out of a tackle on an Alabama third-down conversion in the second half and To'o To'o made just one tackle after entering the game in the second half.

Tennessee's linebackers struggled some in the run game with missed tackles and missed fits here and there and pass coverage remains a liability, but the biggest demerit here is Bituli's targeting penalty (he had a hands-to-the-face penalty, too). It wasn't necessarily egregious or intentional and he's just trying to make a play to keep a play from scoring, but Bituli did lead with the crown of his helmet and it wasn't the first time he's done it in his career. It didn't cost the Vols hardly any yardage, but did cost them one of their most important players.

Grade: B

This grade is reflective of Tennessee's defensive backs making a couple of big plays and the matchup against Alabama's elite wide receivers, the toughest the Vols will face all season by some distance. Nigel Warrior made a big play in the first quarter with his interception at his own goal line, and the big return set up Tennessee's first touchdown as the senior's recent surge continued. Freshman Jaylen McCollough later was the beneficiary of a brilliant disguised pressure and came free for a sack to end an Alabama drive.

Bryce Thompson for pass interference and Warrior for holding were penalized on Alabama's opening series, and the Vols had one big coverage bust leading to a 48-yard completion to Henry Ruggs that set up a Tide touchdown. Tennessee also turned a receiver loose and left him wide open here or there, and Alontae Taylor missed a potential interception in the third quarter. The Vols continued to struggle against tight ends with Miller Forristall catching three passes, including a touchdown when he was uncovered.

Tennessee didn't have a pass breakup, but Thompson made a great play to knife in and record a tackle for loss on a quick pass, and overall the coverage was solid at various points throughout the game and there weren't many missed tackles in the second and third levels.

The dynamics of Alabama's passing game certainly changed when Tua Tagovailoa left the game, but the receiving corps actually improved in the second half when DeVonta Smith returned. Tennessee's secondary didn't back down and held its own. Alabama had been a big-play machine with 39 completions of 20-plus yards, but had just two Saturday night.

Grade: C+

Brent Cimaglia made both of his field goals, hitting from 37 in the second quarter and 32 in the third quarter, to continue his strong season, and Marquez Callaway did a nice job turning a long Alabama punt into a 22-yard return to give Tennessee a field-position boost late in the third quarter.

The rest of Tennessee's special teams performance on Saturday night was spotty with the punting rotation between Joe Doyle and Paxton Brooks failing to produce (36.6-yard average), Alabama's Jaylen Waddle getting loose for returns of 22 and 13 yards to set the Tide up in Tennessee territory and the Vols not making much on their kick-return opportunities with only one of four returns reaching the 25-yard line.

Grade: A

Tennessee's coaching staff ultimately had the Vols on the doorstep of being within eight points of the No. 1 team in the country with seven minutes of the fourth quarter left, so this has to go down as a strong showing for Jeremy Pruitt & Co. Sure, Alabama lost its star quarterback in the second quarter, but Tennessee had to play longer with its backup quarterback as well. The Vols weren't always clean and made some mistakes, but they played hard, they competed and they were not intimidated by the venue or the opponent.

And who knows how the game might have turned out if two moments of poor quarterback play had gone the other way for the Vols. The Jarrett Guarantano miss to Jauan Jennings, on a creative, perfectly-timed call by Jim Chaney, in the second quarter was overshadowed by what happened later, but still cost Tennessee four points. The goal-line fumble looked like it was a called handoff that would have scored the touchdown to make it a one-score game.

Defensively, the Vols appeared to be hanging on when Tagovailoa was in the game, and they rightly attacked backup Mac Jones with a pair of creative disguised pressures confusing him and leading to one sack and a rushed incompletion. The Tide scored three touchdowns on their first four possessions with Tagovailoa, but with Jones they scored only one touchdown on six possessions, and that came after the Vols looked to have generated a second straight three-and-out to open the second half.

Tennessee was penalized 13 times for 93 yards, easily both season-highs, but many of those mistakes frankly can be chalked up to the talent disparity between the teams. At the end of the day, despite the frustration with the officials, some missed chances and losing Brian Maurer to injury and Daniel Bituli to an ejection, Tennessee was right there in the fourth quarter against a more talented team. Even with the loss, it felt like another step forward for Tennessee.