Alabama 45, Tennessee 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Terrence Cody was in the house, but this time Alabama didn't need two blocked field goal attempts to get by Tennessee. Not hardly.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide scored less than two minutes into the game and rolled to a 45-10 win over the Volunteers on Saturday.
The last time the Vols came to Tuscaloosa with a new coach was 2009 under Lane Kiffin. It took two blocked field goal attempts by Cody -- the second one a potential game-winner -- for the Tide to avoid an upset.
No such drama this time in Butch Jones' first visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium as Tennessee coach. It was 21-0 by the end of the first quarter and 35-0 by halftime.
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron completed 19 of 27 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns before Blake Sims finished the game. Five of those completions and one touchdown went to sophomore Amari Cooper, who has been limited by several nagging injuries this season.
T.J. Yeldon scored three touchdowns on the ground and finished with 72 yards on 15 carries. Kenyan Drake led the Tide with 89 yards on 14 carries.
The highlights were few for the Volunteers. Starting quarterback Justin Worley was replaced in the second half by freshman Joshua Dobbs, who led the Volunteers to their two scoring drives.
Raijon Neal scored on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter for Tennessee's only touchdown.
Alabama, ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings, improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the SEC. Tennessee, which upset South Carolina a week earlier, fell to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the SEC.
NOTES: Alabama has scored a rushing touchdown in 17 consecutive games. The Tide has scored in 164 consecutive games, the longest streak in school history. ... This was the ninth time in its last 12 games that Alabama has shut out its opponent in the first half. ... Alabama is now 70-3 under Nick Saban when leading at halftime. ... Tennessee's field goal in the third quarter ended Bama's stretch of 104 unanswered points since the third quarter of the Kentucky game. ... Landon Collins' 89-yard interception return was the fifth longest in school history.
