The first half could hardly have ended worse for Alabama football. The Crimson Tide, trailing Tennessee, made a fourth down stop to get the ball back on the UT 34, but a few plays later, a Jalen Milroe pass to the end zone bounced off receiver Jermaine Burton’s shoulder and into the waiting hands of Tennessee’s Jaylen McCollough.

The Volunteers drove down the field and added a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining, increasing their lead to 20-7 at the break.

“It was a big swing from a momentum standpoint,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of the sequence after the game.

But Alabama wouldn’t be done. The Crimson Tide got the ball back to start the second half and got right to work.

What would follow was a two-play sequence that got the momentum on UA’s side and started a chain of events that would lead directly to its 34-20 win.

The drive started on UA’s own 25 after a touchback on the kickoff. To start out, Milroe handed the ball off to running back Jase McClellan.

The senior only had 22 yards rushing in the first half. On the first carry of the second, he jumped well past that mark, cruising 29 yards downfield to the Tennessee 46.

“That’s what it was, setting the tone,” McClellan said. “That’s how we were coming out second half. Big plays. Attacking them.”

The plan to attack continued on the next play. After a first half where he had looked tentative, hesitant to make decisions, Milroe looked downfield.

Streaking toward the south end zone at Bryant-Denny Stadium was wide receiver Isaiah Bond, one of the Crimson Tide’s fastest players and as open as anyone has ever been. Milroe let it fly.

“That shot that we took was a planned play,” Saban said afterward. “Touchdown.”

It was indeed a touchdown, one that brought the Crimson Tide within one score. More than that, it set the tone for the rest of the 30-minute segment where Alabama played perhaps its best football of the season.

After the game, Milroe was asked what made the two-play combo work so well.

“It was just our point of attack,” Milroe said. “Just acknowledging an assignment that took place and just executed to the best of our ability.”

Milroe’s game got better and better from there. After a first half where he turned the ball over once on a fumble, plus the late interception, he finished with 14 completions on 21 attempts for 220 yards and two touchdowns.

Saban said after the game that his message to Milroe was simple: Step up in the pocket. The plan worked.

“On the touchdown pass to start the second half, edge pressure,” Saban said. “Stepped up in the pocket and threw the ball. Stepped up in the pocket on a couple of those runs. And that’s something that he used to do really well, so I thought he made some really key plays today.”

Alabama moved to 7-1 on the season with the win, 5-0 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide will be back in action on Nov. 4 against LSU at Bryant-Denny Stadium.