We’re going to try something new again while throwing things back to the old days.

Longtime readers remember the Sunday tradition of the afternoon DVR rewind to add context and fill in the gaps from the previous day’s game.

Well, there’s a twist for this review of Alabama’s 34-20 win over Tennessee. Instead of a second viewing, we’re doing this for the first time. Here’s the deal, my brother-in-law got married on the third Saturday in October in what was an incredibly beautiful ceremony and reception. All fall wedding jokes aside, it’s family over everything so there was zero chance I’d be in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday.

That said, phone screens were active in the time before the 5:30 p.m. CT ceremony in a classic scene deep in the heart of SEC country. So here are my notes from watching the full version of Alabama-Tennessee for the first time with a few contextual notes from the scene of the wedding in italics.

— First off, what a gorgeous afternoon for anything outdoors in this part of Alabama. Those overhead shots really painted a picture of the kind of moment college football is all about.

— Outstanding game plan early for the Vols. Quick throws, high percentage plays to set up that incredible touchdown catch by Squirrel White in which Tennessee got a speedy receiver matched up with outside linebacker Chris Braswell — fast in his own right but the matchup the Vols wanted. Word of this play quickly spread through the pre-ceremony photos and the mood dipped.

­— Wow, Joe Milton completed his first nine passes. He was also effective running the ball, running past a few defenders and through a couple of others. Really impressive start for Milton and that streak would have continued past nine if not for a straight drop by Dont’e Thornton.

— The first-quarter stats were jarring when you consider how this ended. The Vols outgained Alabama 187-36 in what looked like one of the most efficient offensive performances in a while. But the fact it was only 13-0 after the third Tennessee drive (the short field after Milroe’s fumble) spoke to Alabama’s red zone defense. Twice the Vols crossed the 10-yard line in the opening quarter and both drives ended in field goals. Leave money on the table and it’s gonna get swiped. Could’ve been a 21-0 game but was just a two-score deficit. There were still some long faces as more family photos were taken at the church.

— Gary Danielson keeps stealing my thoughts from the future as I type them. We’re both so right about things.

GOODMAN: For Alabama, a magical season smokes along

— Punt, punt, fumble, punt was a worst-case start for the Alabama offense. The end-around appeared to spark something early in the second half but a third-down sack forced another punt. Like so much of the season, stringing the plays together was difficult. There were moments but they weren’t sustained until the nine-play, 59-yard touchdown drive saw Jermaine Burton find the perfect soft spot in the zone and suddenly it was a six-point game despite being so overwhelmingly outplayed. The mood seemed to improve among the family members palming phones in the wait for the ceremony.

— Just a tremendous play to stop Joe Milton on a fourth-down play that appeared to have a crease to the line before Lawson, Campbell and Eboigbe closed quickly. Another example of why fourth-and-inches shotgun snaps stink. You have a big quarterback and the tush push available. Don’t know why teams wouldn’t do that every time in that scenario.

— The final five minutes of the first half saw a few momentum swings following the fourth-down stuff. The interception on the ball thrown to Burton in the end zone was interesting. It almost looked like the receiver lost the ball in the sun as it bounced perfectly off his face and into the Vol DB’s arms for a boom-boom INT. You can see camera operators in the background shielding their face while looking at the ball and Burton never seemed to see it. Alabama could’ve taken a 14-13 lead but a 14-point swing was coming. Word of this interception wasn’t well received.

— The way Tennessee zipped right down the field with the second-quarter clock ticking down had the feel of the Vols weathering the storm and stomping back on the gas. The 30-yard pass to Ramel Keyton with Terrion Arnold in tight covered was one of those plays that makes the home team wonder if this is their day.

— Alabama sent the house in the closing second but the third-and-goal pass got away in time to make it 20-7 in a deflating final sequence of the half. The sister of the groom wasn’t too positive about Alabama’s chances or her shoes at this point in the day.

­— The shot of Saban holding up one finger to add a second at the end of the half had to bring back a few rough memories for some. The sack to end the half was as low as it would get for the home team.

— “You’ve got to play for 60 in this one,” was the final thought from Josh Heupel on the CBS halftime interview. Ominous.

— Somewhere Avery Johnson nodded as Alabama opened the tale of the second half that read quite differently from the first. Two plays, touchdown. The Tide has been living on coverage busts and Isaiah Bond’s 46-yard bomb from Milroe appeared to change the whole feel of the game. Tennessee led but the mood seemed to shift considerably in the stadium. The same was true at the pre-ceremony tailgate in the parking lot.

— The consecutive Vol offside flags followed by the Alabama false start early in the second half were notable for a few reasons. It turned out to be the Crimson Tide’s only penalty of the entire 60-minute game. That’s insane considering what happened at Texas A&M and against Texas. The Vols were flagged 8 times for 55 yards. Alabama moved up to No. 55 in penalty yards per game two weeks after being flagged 14 times in College Station.

— Taking that a step further: Alabama was flagged 24 times in games against Texas and Texas A&M. It was flagged 25 times in the other six games combined.

— Alabama started getting after Joe Milton in the second half. It had no sacks before halftime and three after it. The third was clearly the most impactful. The Vols went from converting 6 of 11 on third downs in the first 30 minutes to going 2-for-7 in the second.

— Yards per rush in the first half for Alabama: 0.9

— Yards per rush in the second half for Alabama: 4.9

— There were several big passing plays but Burton’s 22-yard catch on third-and-three with 5:38 left in the third quarter was among the biggest. Instead of facing a tough fourth-down decision, Alabama had a fresh set of downs inside the red zone. A few snaps later, McClellan gave the Crimson Tide its first lead of the day. Spirits at the church took an optimistic turn while remembering last year’s second-half comeback in Knoxville was fool’s gold. At this point, the ceremony was quickly approaching and attendees were doing some time math.

­– The Alabama defense just looked like it had another gear of aggressiveness as the clock ticked down. It was reminiscent of the performance at Texas A&M two weeks ago. Where open-field tackles were missed early on, Alabama’s fundamentals were solid in the closing stretch.

— In terms of consequential drives, the one that started with 1:08 left in the third quarter ranks up there. Alabama was up 24-20 before embarking on a 7-minute, 51-second journey that spanned 56 yards. That 15-play drive not only ended with a field goal and a seven-point lead but was an assertion of will on Tennessee. The Tide ran it 11 times and converted three third downs — two on the ground. That included a 15-yard scramble for Milroe on third-and-10 with 12:38 left. The wedding party was lining up in the lobby of the church at this point. We were about to go dark right at the climax of this classic.

— I believe McClellan’s 11-yard run with 11:40 left was the last we saw before phones were turned off. And just to be clear, once it was time, the game was far from our minds. The most important day in the bride and groom’s life isn’t to be trivialized. The ceremony was beautiful — a moment that we were all blessed to witness.

— Meanwhile, back in Tuscaloosa, Alabama benefited from a third-down defensive holding penalty that got Will Reichard close enough (even with a sack to follow) to nail a 50-yard field goal that made it 27-20. We never saw it.

— It felt like Alabama was in control at this point but it was just a one-score game. Chris Braswell and Jihaad Campbell changed that. The two former five-star recruits combined for the blind-side sack/fumble that Campbell picked up and ran for the knockout punch.

— That play was the topic of Saban’s postgame video review that’s always worth watching.

— It was at this point, Dixieland Delight played for a stadium that sounded ready to explode. Read more about Dixieland Delight from my story published last week.

— After gaining 187 first-quarter yards, Tennessee managed just 129 in the second half. The Vols picked up six first downs after falling behind two scores but couldn’t score on the 84 fourth-quarter yards.

— Alabama possessed the ball for 10:03 of the fourth quarter, exactly the kind of number Saban wants to see.

A few other notes

— Jase McClellan should be noted for a workman performance with 27 carries and 115 yards. That’s a career-high in both rushing attempts (by a margin of eight) and rushing yards. It was his second 100-yard game of his career, joining the Ole Miss game (105 yards) from last month.

— A striking stat is Tennessee’s fourth-down conversion rate. It was zero. The Vols went for three and got none.

— Also worth noting eight different players combined to catch 14 total Milroe passes (in 22 attempts). Burton and Bond continue to be the top targets as they combined for seven of those 14.

— The Tide had five completions of 20-plus yards. Alabama is tied for 13th nationally with 33 of those this season in a category LSU leads with 51. In terms of 40-yard passes, Alabama is tied for No. 3 with 11.

— Worth noting I was pretty far off in my pregame Alabama-Tennessee column. that said this would be a low-scoring rock fight. Hand up. Got it wrong. But I did say turnovers could be crucial and feel like that was the truth (and an easy prediction).

— Most importantly, congrats to Eric and AnneScott.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.