Leigh Tiffin leads Tide with his foot

Leigh Tiffin connected on a 50-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, hitting a low-drive through the uprights. It was his longest of the season thus far, and his fifth of 50 yards or more for his career. He ranks second in school history behind his father, Van Tiffin, who had six field goals of 50 yards or more during his career (1983-86). Tiffin accounted for all of the Tide’s points on Saturday. In addition to the 50-yarder, he had field goals of 38, 22 and 49.

Offensive woes
Alabama didn’t score a TD for the first time in 26 games, dating back to a 17-12 loss to Mississippi State in 2007. It also marked the first time in 46 games Alabama has won without scoring a touchdown, going back to a 6-3 home win over Tennessee in 2005.

Peek injured
Tide tight end Colin Peek injured a knee during pre-game warm-ups when a teammate fell onto his leg, according to coach Nick Saban.

“I think it’s an inside ligament,” Saban said. “Hopefully he can get that healed up and be back with us in two weeks.”

1,000-yard Mark
Tide tailback Mark Ingram has now rushed for 1,004 yards on the season after gaining 99 yards against the Vols on 17 carries. He is only the second sophomore in school history to rush for 1,000 yards. Kenneth Darby ran for 1,062 as a sophomore during the 2004 season. When Ingram fumbled with 3:29 left, it marked his first lost fumble in his 22-game Tide career. He has rushed the ball 296 times and has 26 career receptions for 322 career touches.

Vols move it
Tennessee’s 341 yards of offense was the most Alabama’s defense has allowed this season. The previous high was 301 against Kentucky. When Tennessee scored a touchdown with 1:19 left in the game, it was the first TD allowed by the Alabama defense in 11 quarters.

Daring early
Alabama went for it on fourth-and-5 from the Vols’ 37 on the Tide’s second series of the game, but Greg McElroy’s dump pass over the middle to Roy Upchurch only gained 2 yards.

Early in the second half, Tennessee went for it on 4th-and-1 from the Vols’ 44, and Jonathan Crompton picked up the first down on a quarterback sneak.

Barron pickoff
Tide safety Mark Barron picked off a Jonathan Crompton pass late in the first quarter and returned it 11 yards to the Bama 30. It marked Barron’s fourth interception this season, moving him into the SEC lead for pickoffs.

He’s back
Javier Arenas, who missed last week’s game with an injury, was back in the starting lineup against Tennessee and led the team with 14 tackles, eight solos and six assists. The senior cornerback had started 42 straight games before missing a week ago.

Julio involved
Alabama went to Julio Jones often in the first half as Greg McElroy completed six passes to the receiver for 48 yards. For the game, Jones had seven catches for 54 yards. His previous season high for catches was four against Virginia Tech and Ole Miss.

Nico’s day
Former Andalusia star Nico Johnson, a true freshman, recorded eight tackles on Saturday from his linebacker post. He was tied with three others (Mark Barron, Eryk Anders and Roland McClain) for second most tackles behind Javier Arenas’ 14.

Weird start
The game was delayed a few minutes due to the headsets of the Tennessee coaching staff not working. Thus, Alabama couldn’t use their headsets until the problem was corrected early in the first quarter.

On the opening kickoff, Alabama’s Baron Huber called for a fair catch at the Tide 23 as the ball was popped-up high on a short kick. Huber, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., was one of the Tide’s team captains for the game.

What’s next
After eight straight games, the Crimson Tide welcomes its open date. Alabama next plays at home against SEC West rival LSU on Nov. 7.
The Tide leads that series 44-23-5, including last year’s 27-21 overtime win in Baton Rouge. That ended a five-game losing streak to LSU. The Tigers are 8-8 all-time against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

By the Numbers
2 — The number of field goal tries swatted by Terrence Cody.
5 — Field goals made during the game.
265 — Passing yards put up by Vol QB Jonathan Crompton.
32:18 — The time Tennessee had the ball during the game.