College Football Game Preview: No. 1 Alabama at No. 9 Tennessee

Pressure Jalen Hurts: True freshman QB, Jalen Hurts, has yet to have a freshman moment yet. He’s been so composed all year-long, even when down by three scores at Ole Miss, and nobody has seemed to figure out how to rattle him. If Tennessee can figure out how to dial-up the pressure to finally get to him and force mistakes, Alabama could be very limited offensively.

Push the pace: If Tennessee can push the pace on a thinner Alabama defense, and force a relatively thin Alabama secondary to break down they can create those big plays that have killed Alabama for years. Josh Dobbs will need to show he has finally taken the step forward, and the offense avoid the costly turnovers (seven last week in a 45-38 loss). If they can wear down Alabama’s defense early and land some big plays then they’ll be in good position to spring the upset.

Hit the deep ball: Josh Dobbs has been hyped up since his first year, but hasn’t been able to live up to that hype. He was labeled the guy who could finally get Tennessee over the hump, but he hasn’t. Dobbs has never been able to consistently hit the deep ball, minus the hail mary at Georgia, he hasn’t been able to hit them when they count. He’ll need to be able to connect on deep balls against a susceptible secondary if they want to win this one.