Levorn Harbin addressed the media today ahead of Kentucky.

Well-known as Coach Chop, Harbin is the outside linebackers coach for Tennessee, and an instrumental presence in the recruiting scene. Harbin reflected back at the Alabama game, while moving forward.

Lack of Success Against Alabama

“Um, number one, I mean, Alabama got a great offensive line. (They) had a couple of guys that probably going to be first-round draft picks, but there’s some things that I can do better to help the guys out that I’m having to coach up this week and um the guys were in position a couple of times but didn’t finish like we would like to. We’ll clean that up this week and we’ll move on to being better than what we were last week.”

How Does Alabama Outcome Impact This Week’s Approach?

“I’m the same every week, but also, you got to go back and evaluate what you’re doing and maybe be a little bit more tedious about certain things. That’s what I have had to do this week. That’s what I and the guys also got to work on, the little things. I have to keep coaching it and for those guys, the biggest thing is just finishing. Finishing rushes and I got to coach that part up and teach them how to finish too. So, that’s on me. That’s not on them. That’s my job, and no, I don’t change from week to week. Wins or losses, I treat the same to be honest with you.”

Does Success Feed on Itself

“Every snap the guys go out there and think they are gonna win. That’s what you got to first put in their mind that they can’t win every rep. Last week, they were a little disappointed with the outcome of the production, but they also went back and watched the film, they saw where they could have been successful and they weren’t. So, it wasn’t like they were just so much better than us. Now, they did have some good plays, doing a great job with their sets and with their hands and we could have been a little bit moreviolent. They saw where they could have done a better job and been more productive. So, I mean, we’re not worried at all about moving forward.”

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Alabama football nabbed its sixth straight win this past Saturday night, beating rival Tennessee 37-20 at Bryant-Denny Stadium for its fourth straight victory over a ranked team (becoming the first SEC squad to ever do that without a bye week in the process).

“Gutty win against a very good team. Well-coached, and they constantly put pressure on you,” Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer said postgame. “It wasn’t perfect… But our guys did a nice job of continuing to fight just like we have been.”

The victory was only Alabama’s second in the past four rivalry meetings against the Volunteers, but Tennessee was once again left waiting on its first triumphant outcome in Tuscaloosa since 2003. The Crimson Tide (6-1, 4-0 SEC) moved up to No. 4 in the AP Top 25. The Volunteers (5-2, 2-2 SEC) dropped to No. 17.

Player of the Game: Wolf linebacker Yhonzae Pierre has had to step up after long-term injuries to both Jah-Marien Latham and Qua Russaw. The redshirt sophomore has done more than simply fill a void. He’s become a player opposing offenses can only afford to miss at their own immense peril. On Saturday night, Pierre had six total tackles and was credited with 2.5 sacks, one of which resulted in a safety that gave Alabama a lead it would never relinquish.

Play of the Game: There is no doubt about which play in this contest was the most impactful. With nine seconds remaining in the first half, Tennessee ran a play-action that resulted in quarterback Joey Aguilar’s pass being intercepted by sophomore Crimson Tide cornerback Zabien Brown. Apart from the turnover itself, what made that play so remarkable? That query is answered by the fact that the Volunteers were on the one-yard line, and Brown ran the interception back for a 99-yard touchdown to make the halftime score 23-7 Alabama.

Stat of the Game: At no point after the second quarter was this season’s Third Saturday in October a one-possession game. The visitors never led, and a Jam Miller touchdown with just over four minutes to go in the first half brought the score to 16-7. Brown’s colossal interception return created even more separation, and 10 points was the slimmest margin by which the Crimson Tide led during the game’s second half.

Brown co-led the Alabama team with seven tackles in addition to his long touchdown on the interception. It was a game to remember for the sophomore, who’s already had his share of memorable moments on Saban Field in his young career.

Ty Simpson passed for 253 yards against Tennessee. Sophomore Ryan Williams led the receiving group with 87 of those yards, making more than one difficult catch in the process. He didn’t reach paydirt, but Williams had a long of 31 yards and caught all five of his targets, without so much as a single drop.

Volunteers running back DeSean Bishop had 123 rush yards on 14 attempts, good for an average of 8.8 yards per carry. Adding the averages of the three running backs Alabama used in the game provides a yield of 5.5 (Kevin Riley had -2 yards on three carries). Bishop also had two touchdowns.

Before facing Alabama, Aguilar had only been sacked multiple times in a game once, when Mississippi State notched two against him. The Crimson Tide doubled that total, though Aguilar has still not taken more than one sack in a home game.

Redshirt freshman Rico Scott scored for the first time since the season opener in the third quarter against the Volunteers. However, senior Germie Bernard (who was held scoreless in the game) amassed 35 rush yards on the nine-play, 99-yard drive that resulted in Scott’s 11-yard touchdown reception. Bernard was one of the most important playmakers on a drive that gave his team a 17-point lead.

Through two SEC games this fall, Colorado transfer Nikhai Hill-Green only got three total tackles under his belt. In the ensuing two, Hill-Green stepped up his play dramatically. He had six tackles against the Volunteers and is up to 13 in Alabama’s past two SEC matchups.

Bernard has five receiving touchdowns in the 2025 season, but has now gone two straight weeks without adding another one (or more) to that total. By catching the first touchdown pass of Saturday’s game, Horton earned his fifth touchdown catch of the year. He was expected to make an impact upon his transfer from Miami (Fla.), and has done so in more ways than scoring, but his propensity for finding the end zone in big games cannot be discounted.

Daniel Hill has been seen more regularly as of late, with the coaching staff attributing that to the sophomore getting healthier than he was at the start of the regular season. The 34 yards he ran for when facing Tennessee were a career best, and he added a touchdown to go with that. Hill had 29 yards in the 2024 season opener against Western Kentucky; that was his single-game high before Saturday, and he also scored a touchdown in that contest.

Bray Hubbard equaled Brown with seven total tackles, joining defensive lineman James Smith among players who reached that number against the Volunteers. Hubbard led that group with five solo tackles; it is tied for his season-best number in that category, which he accomplished at Georgia on Sept. 27. Brown and Smith combined for five solo tackles in the Tennessee game.

The stable of Crimson Tide running backs minus Jam Miller, who cleared concussion protocol in time to play Saturday, has yet to put its stamp on a game. Hill helped, but once again, the backs didn’t rush for 100 yards or more between them. Even with Miller, three different running backs combined for just 47 yards. Alabama has only reached the 100-yard mark in a Power Four game twice this season, and both times were with Miller on the field, but he had just 15 rushing yards against Tennessee.