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This is cheating, of course. But the more I tried to separate this into two or three different posts, the more they just seemed to go together. The speed of this thing would have been incredible at any point against Alabama, but down 13-7 with 7:08 to play, Tennessee's offense suddenly went to peak efficiency:
And sure, this is another "what could have been." But against a team that made the playoff and has a shot to win another championship, what happened in the minutes after this still feels like it had less to do with Tennessee failing and more to do with Alabama executing.
The reverse is true on this drive. Josh Dobbs, sometimes maligned for his downfield passing, throws a pair of strikes to get Tennessee in range. And from there it's the old faithful as Jalen Hurd takes it to the house. The Vols knocked on the door. This drive gives hope we might knock it down next time.