Alabama is going to remain my No. 1 team, but the Tide looks increasingly vulnerable as it's become apparent QB Greg McElroy isn't playing with as much confidence as he was earlier in the season, when he looked so dangerous throwing downfield. Against the Vols, he averaged a paltry 4.1 yards per pass attempt. Given how well this team runs the ball, that shouldn't be anywhere near the number.
Like its fellow SEC heavyweight brother, Florida, Alabama also is having big problems in the red zone. The Tide now has only scored a touchdown on 16 of 38 red zone trips (42.1 percent). Coming into Saturday, Alabama ranked 109th in the nation in touchdown percentage of red zone trips, and its inability to punch the ball in allowed Tennessee to hang around, as my colleague Ben Lerner of ESPN Stats & Information pointed out.
To read the rest of Bruce's analysis of the Alabama-Tennessee game, plus his thoughts on Tim Tebow's current Heisman chances and why TCU might be the most impressive team in the country, you must be an ESPN Insider.
Bruce Feldman
