The Vols welcomed Alabama to Neyland Stadium on Saturday and sent the Crimson Tide home in a cloud of cigar smoke.

Despite a rather slow start, the No. 14 Vols defeated No. 6 Alabama in a 26-10 battle, headlined by a dominant Vols defense and a giant push from the run game in the second half.

DeSean Bishop, as he has all season, led the offense once again Saturday as he ran for 159 yards on the ground on 32 carries, he also scored the Vols’ (6-1, 3-1 SEC) two lone touchdowns.

Quarterback George MacIntyre played his role, he finished 21-for-31 while throwing 197 yards with no touchdowns and one turnover.

“Played winning football,” Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel said. “The ups and downs in a game like this, I thought he was decisive, going to the right spots on the football field. Had some adversity – tip, pick, just super consistent. Same demeanor. Goes out the following play, the following drive and cuts it, trusts his eyes.”

The game began with a solid 12-play, 63-yard drive that ended in a field goal from the Vols, giving them an early 3-0 advantage.

The Vols added two more field goals from Cooper Ranvier before the Crimson Tide (5-2, 3-2 SEC) finally found the end zone.

After a MacIntyre pass bounced off the hands of Radarious Jackson and into the Alabama defense, the Crimson Tide set up shop at the Vols’ 14-yard line. Keelon Russell took it himself for what would be Alabama’s first and only touchdown of the day.

With the game at 9-7, the Vols offense once again was only able to respond with a field goal before entering the half, but a late second-quarter drive from Alabama allowed them to stay right in the game with a field goal of their own, making the score 12-10 at halftime.

This is the part of the game where Bishop took over. After another defensive stop to open the half, Bishop rushed on six of the eight plays in the Vols' opening second-half drive, including the final push to the end zone, adding to the lead.

Perhaps the most impressive drive of the evening was a drive that began for the Vols with around 12 minutes remaining on the clock. By the time the Vols reached the end zone? There were just three more minutes to go.

A nine-minute and 32-second drive, the Crimson Tide’s longest drive, was just a five-minute drive in the third that ended in a turnover on downs.

“Take a ton of pride in playing winning football at that point in the game and being able to function and operate,” Heupel said. “3333George (MacIntyre) did a really good job being able to drain the clock when we were asking him to do that, and then run the football the way that you need to sustain a drive and then go finish that drive.”

Yet as it had gone the rest of the game, the defense came through and ended the game on Russell’s second interception of the night, a pass right to Kayin Lee. The Crimson Tide turned the ball over four times on the night.

This is the Vols’ third straight home victory over Alabama. The team’s next test comes on the road next week against the South Carolina Gamecocks.

“Now there’s an expectation that that’s what you do when you’re playing these guys,” Heupel said. “It’s been fun building this. There’s been days where we want different outcomes, but this is without a doubt the best fan base in America.”

Source: Yahoo Sports