Is it Tennesseeâs time to win a streak of games against Alabama football?

Historically, the Alabama-Tennessee football rivalry has been streaky. Before the Volunteers won the 2022 edition of the Third Saturday in October, the Crimson Tide had taken 15 in a row.

Ahead of Nick Saban’s tenure beginning in 2007, Tennessee won 11-of-13. The series continues much in the same way back to 1901.

After breaking Alabama’s chokehold last season, can the Volunteers run off a streak of their own?

“I mean sure, I hope so,” Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren said at SEC Media Days Thursday. “We were talking about it earlier, we expect to win every game and Alabama is no different. Alabama has obviously an amazing program, amazing team, amazing talent. We’re in the same boat. Amazing team, amazing talent, amazing program, have a lot of historic wins. It’s just a matter of who goes out there and wants it more on that day.”

Tennessee visits Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa after hosting Alabama in Knoxville last season. When UT kicker Chase McGrath scored the knockout field goal as time expired, the Volunteer faithful rushed the field, deliriously celebrating a hallmark moment for head coach Josh Heupel’s rebuild.

Afterward, it took defensive lineman Omari Thomas an hour to make his way across the length of the field to the locker room. the win required a change in attitude for the Volunteers.

“Everyone on the team understood that they didn’t need to be a hero,” Thomas said. “Everyone understood that we needed to go in and do your job because once you become a hero and you’re trying to be selfish, that’s not who we are and you don’t win games that way.”

Alabama wasn’t the only huge win for the Volunteers last season. Tennessee also beat Florida in one of its most important rivalry games, and took down SEC West winner LSU.

This year, it will have to visit Nick Saban and company, a far different environment for the game, scheduled for Oct. 21. Still, the Volunteers said they’ll be ready.

“When it’s time to play on that third Saturday in October, I feel like we’ll have a good week,” Thomas said. “We just lock in, focus on what we need to focus on. But right now, we just want to get to Nashville, that first game against Virginia. That’s what we’re most excited for.”

Even with the Volunteers expected to have another solid season under Heupel, the Crimson Tide won’t go down easily. Alabama offensive tackle JC Latham said Wednesday that the losses from last season are a motivating factor for the 2023 team.

According to Latham, the fix is simple, and has to do with the Tide’s 17 penalties in last year’s game.

“We needed to play with more discipline,” Latham said. “Especially myself, I had way too many penalties. Every single day in practice, workouts, whatever it might be, we got guys who are trying to be more disciplined, hold each other accountable, trying to be responsible as far as that aspect goes, especially myself. We lost games off of just not being disciplined. We just couldn’t handle them. It was just strictly off of discipline.”