Third Saturday in October: Quick history, and two goals for the Tide against Tennessee

The Third Saturday in October is one of the most historic and traditional rivalries in the SEC. The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Volunteers once faced off on this same Saturday nearly every year and formed this great rivalry.

This will be the fourth Saturday in October, but that doesn’t change a whole lot about this game or this rivalry. However, the wins and losses columns do.

Alabama has dominated the rivalry as of late coming into this game with a winning streak of 14 over the Volunteers.

Although Tennessee seems to be trending up under new coach Josh Heupel, the Tide are still favored. Nick Saban has never lost to Tennessee as Bama’s head coach.

Quick history lesson

These two teams first squared off in 1901 in Birmingham, Alabama, in a game that ended in a 6-6 tie, and the rivalry was born. Tradition began in 1928 when the rivalry first started being played on its historic date of the “Third Saturday in October,” and officially garnered that name in 1939.

“Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” is a common phrase you will hear around Tuscaloosa today if the Crimson Tide come out victorious.

Jim Goostree was the head athletic trainer for Alabama during the mid-1950s and is credited with starting the fun tradition when he handed out cigars to the Alabama players in the locker room after an Alabama victory over Tennessee. After that, a tradition was born, and even though it had to remain hush-hush because of NCAA rules, both teams continued.

In 2005, both teams started publicly smoking again and would just self-report the violation to the NCAA every year they won.

Alabama leads the series 57-38-8 and although the rivalry is slowly dissipating, it is still fierce for both fan bases.

Now, here is a look at Alabama’s two goals for securing a 15-win streak.

Alabama defensive dominance

The script has flipped for Alabama on defense.

Fans and media alike were calling for defensive coordinator Pete Goulding’s job in the first few weeks of the season.

However, the defense is now starting to look like the best in the country. A large part of that is thanks to Henry To’oTo’o, the junior linebacker for the Tide. He is leading his team with 54 total tackles, 20 of which are solos. To’oTo’o also has a sack and a pass deflection on the season.

Will Anderson, Jr. is the other linebacker in the Bama defensive box. Anderson’s statistics are very similar to To’oTo’o with 20 solo tackles as well and 45 total. He also has seven sacks so far this year and may be the best defensive player in the entire country.

Secondary issues have been well documented for the Tide, but they still have managed 18 interceptions so far, and even more pass breakups. No, they are not the best secondary unit in the country, but they are growing and improving each game.

Overall, for the first time this year, the defense deserves more praise than critique. And the goal for the Tide in this game is to keep doing what they are doing and not try to play bigger than themselves.

Win the quarterback battle

Alabama knows who is starting for the quarterback position for them, but they aren’t sure who will be starting as the signal-caller for the other sideline.

Bryce Young is second in the Heisman race, has over 2,000 passing yards and 24 touchdowns through the air.

Young has shined at quarterback in most of his games this year aside from the Texas A&M loss. His poise and calmness in the pocket are major strengths. He has been very accurate and really only has a problem when the pressure is on.

Thanks to the Tide offensive line, Young is not pressured all that much and is able to just deliver on target and on time to his five-star receivers and lets them do the rest.

Flip to the other sideline, and there are question marks for the quarterback position. Hendon Hooker is who Tennessee wants to be under center, but he went down against Ole Miss last week.

Since then, Hooker has been day-to-day, and there has been no indication either way on whether or not he will see the field. Joe Milton III is the other option and was actually the starter at the beginning of the season.

Milton came in against Ole Miss last week and had a chance to be a hero. Instead, he surveyed the field and decided to run out of bounds with zero seconds on the clock to end the game. So, if nothing else, decision-making could be a problem for this quarterback.

The “Third Saturday in October” should be a cake-walk for the Tide this year as Alabama comes in as the number four team in the country. However, anything can happen in rivalry games. The game will take place in Tuscaloosa at 6:00 p.m. CT at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Hayden Crigler is a contributing college football and college basketball writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him through email: [email protected] or on Twitter: @hayden_crigler.