No. 11 Tennessee appeared to be putting a first half-ending touchdown on the board to pull within No. 6 Alabama on Saturday night.
Zabien Brown had other ideas.
The Alabama defensive back picked off a Joey Aguilar pass with 8 second left in the second half and returned it 99 yards for a 23-7 halftime lead in Tuscaloosa.
The Vols had second and 1 from the 1 and no timeouts when Brown jumped a route and grabbed the momentum from Tennessee.
“It’s a smart play by our guys right there, knowing the situation with them having no timeouts,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer told the Crimson Tide Sports Network at halftime. “Risky for them to run. Baiting them into throwing it, love it. Great play by ZB.”
The interception return by Brown is the second longest in Alabama history behind Minkah Fitzpatrick’s 100-yarder vs. Arkansas in 2016.
Instead of a potential 16-14 lead, the Tide gets the ball in the second half with a 16-point lead.
“We’re missing out on a couple of opportunities, but we’re facing a good football team,” DeBoer said. “We’re making them earn it on defense. We have to continue to stay within ourselves, do our job and keep fighting.”
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel called the final play of the half “disappointing.”
“We have 30 more minutes of football,” he told ABC at half. “At the end of the day, they’ve made a few more plays than we have. We hurt ourselves with some penalties. Let’s go play another 30 minutes.”
Aguilar finished the half 14 of 21 for 135 yards and a touchdown but also had the crucial turnover on the final play.
The pick 6 was the second score by the Alabama defense, which was credited with a safety earlier in the half.
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