Tennessee football had a series of extremely unfortunate events on one play early in the second quarter. After Alabama punted on fourth-and-one from just shy of midfield, the Vols took over at their own 14-yard line. However, on the first play, George MacIntyre’s throw went through the hands of Radarious Jackson and was intercepted, giving the Tide great field position.

There were long-term implications during the play, as well. Starting left tackle and projected 2028 NFL Draft pick David Sanders Jr. was injured on the play. He walked off mostly on his own power, but was assisted at the end into the injury tent for further evaluation.

Alabama took advantage after a false start on its first play of the drive. On 1st-and-15, quarterback Keelon Russell faked out a blitzing TJ Metcalf and scampered in for a 19-yard touchdown run. This made it just a 9-7 lead for the Vols in the second quarter with 10:13 until halftime.

When Tennessee took the field for its next possession, LSU transfer Ory Williams replaced Sanders at left tackle. The rest of the line, left to right, was the same unit of Nic Moore, Sam Pendleton, Donovan Haslam and Jesse Perry.

This has been the unit Tennessee has gone with the past couple of weeks. This is in the wake of a season-ending injury for preseason All-SEC left guard Wendell Moe Jr. Offensive guard Sham Umarov has also been benched in favor of Haslam and Moore.

Sanders is in his sophomore season with Tennessee. He was a five-star prospect out of high school, ultimately picking the Vols over Ohio State. He missed the front end of his freshman season, but eventually returned and secured the starting spot at right tackle. This offseason, Lance Heard transferred to Kentucky, opening up the left side for Sanders to slide over to.