Tennessee snaps losing streak to Alabama in epic fashion, winning 52-49 on a last-second kick

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The most anticipated game in Knoxville in a generation ended in the most delirious way possible for the Vols.

Chase McGrath's 40-yard field as time expired gave Tennessee the 52-49 win over their hated rival, who had tortured them for 15 straight matchups dating back to 2006.

It was a wild back-and-forth game in which the Vols led 28-10 early and appeared to be headed for a gut-wrenching defeat when the Crimson Tide took a 49-42 lead on a fumble returned to the house midway through the fourth quarter.

Alabama had a shot to win it seconds earlier when Will Reichard's 50-yard field goal sailed wide right with 15 seconds left in the game.

That was all the time Vols quarterback Hendon Hooker needed to get his team in field goal range.

The game started with a furious Tennessee flurry of scoring before the Crimson Tide fought their way back.

On the game’s opening drive, Alabama quarterback Bryce Young — in his first game back since suffering a shoulder injury in the first half against Arkansas two weeks ago — looked tentative and ineffective, and the Tide punted after just five plays. In came Hendon Hooker, hailed as the best Tennessee quarterback since you-know-who. Less than two minutes later, the Vols were in the end zone, the key play of the drive a 20-yard Hooker scramble that electrified an already-juiced Neyland Stadium crowd.

Young looked a bit more like his Heisman-winning self on the next drive, guiding Alabama 71 yards to a tying touchdown off a Jahmyr Gibbs dash. That was the last highlight for Alabama for quite some time, as Tennessee feasted on mistake after Tide mistake.

Alabama hadn’t allowed a touchdown in the first quarter in its last 13 games, the longest streak in the nation. Tennessee happily and quickly dropped three on the Tide. The first time Alabama forced Tennessee into a punt, early in the second quarter, the Tide promptly handed the ball back on one of the strangest plays ever seen in the Nick Saban regime: a botched punt return that ended up in Tennessee’s hands.

In the first half, Hooker was a model of efficiency, finding open receivers throughout the Alabama secondary and locating receivers who just flat-out outran the defense. Alabama was fighting an uphill war, battling both a motivated, quick-strike Tennessee team and its own mistakes, penalties that killed drives and kept the Vols rolling.

With more than 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Vols scored yet again to go up 28-10. The stadium was delirious, dreams of a mammoth upset and cigar smoke dancing in their heads.

But Alabama is still Alabama, even through self-inflicted wounds. Down 18, Young demonstrated exactly why he’s the reigning Heisman champion, and why Alabama’s chances depend entirely on the health of his right shoulder. The Alabama offensive line did him few favors, but he matadored his way out of jam after jam. He threw passes into spaces the size of mailboxes. He eluded the Tennessee rush with balletic spins. He struck fast and often, and pulled the Tide back even with Tennessee with less than four minutes elapsed in the third quarter.

With their three-possession lead gone, the Vols had every opportunity to fold. Instead, they went big — very, very big. Hooker hit Jalin Hyatt for touchdowns of 60 and 78 yards, and Neyland Stadium vibrated down to its foundations. The only problem for Tennessee: Alabama was matching the Vols score for score.