Whatever Alabama football was doing in the first half, it wasn’t working. Tennessee had a 20-7 lead at halftime of Saturday’s game, and the Volunteers hadn’t even taken advantage of all the opportunities handed to them by the Crimson Tide.

Something had to change at halftime if UA was going to have a chance to earn some revenge for last year’s loss in the Third Saturday in October rivalry. After the game, Alabama head coach Nick Saban described his halftime message.

Tennessee had scored a touchdown to end the half and had all the momentum heading to the locker room.

“I said everybody here’s got a choice,” Saban said. “You’ve got a choice to make. What do you want to accomplish? What do you want to do? Everybody’s got to choose what they want.”

Apparently, Alabama’s players made the right choice. The Crimson Tide started hot on offense with a two-play opening drive to pull within on score.

After that, UA never took its foot off the gas pedal. The Volunteers didn’t score a single point in the second half, while Alabama’s offense kicked into gear.

The Crimson Tide won 34-20. The victory pushed UA to 7-1 on the season, 5-0 in SEC play.

“We just told everybody, keep fighting,” defensive back Malachi Moore said afterward. “This is what we do. We’re built for situations like this and if we want to be a good team, we’re going to have to fight through adversity.”

Alabama will be back in action Nov. 4 against LSU.