Three Things You Need to Know: Nick Saban’s Dominance over Tennessee

Since January 2007, Alabama Crimson Tide fans have enjoyed a lot of enjoyable fall football Saturdays including numerous championship victories in early January.

Some of those fall Saturday have occurred when the Tennessee Volunteers appear on the third Saturday in October.

Including Saturday’s 45-7 win, Nick Saban has an 11-0 record against the Volunteers as the Crimson Tide’s head coach.

As Alabama enjoys a bye week, let’s take a look at the three things you need to know about Nick Saban’s dominance over Tennessee.

Blowouts over Tennessee a Routine

Not only has Alabama defeated Tennessee 11 consecutive times, the Volunteers have rarely been competitive in the series since Nick Saban took over at Alabama.

The Crimson Tide has won by at least two touchdowns in nine of their 11 wins under Saban and have an average margin of victory of 24.5 points per game since 2007.

In the past two meetings, Alabama has creamed Tennessee by a combined score of 94-17.

The only years where the Crimson Tide failed to beat the Volunteers by double digits came in 2009 and 2015.

Success on Offense vs. Tennessee

During the 11-game winning streak, Alabama has scored an average of 36 points per game.

The Crimson Tide has exceeded 40 points in six of their victories over the Volunteers since 2007. In 2007 and 2010, Alabama notched their highest point totals in SEC play against Tennessee.

On the opposite sideline, Tennessee has reached the 20-point mark once against Alabama since 2007.

Saban’s Streak Spans Several Tennessee Coaching Regimes

Prior to Nick Saban’s decade long era, Alabama went through seven head coaches from 1983-2006.

While the Crimson Tide won a national title under Gene Stallings and SEC titles under Bill Curry and Mike Dubose, the football program also went through two probations and five losing seasons between in the 23 years between Paul “Bear” Bryant and Nick Saban.

As Alabama has seen a reversal of fortunes under Saban, Tennessee is now experiencing a lack of stability through their 11-year losing streak to Alabama.

Saban’s streak began in 2007 when Phillip Fulmer roamed the sidelines in Knoxville. After losing to Saban in 2007 and 2008, Lane Kiffin, Derek Dooley and Butch Jones have failed to steal a win over Saban’s Crimson Tide in nine attempts.