Alabama Legend Damien Harris Reveals Biggest Catalyst To Stopping Tennessee

Former Alabama Crimson Tide and NFL running back turned CBS Sports college football analyst Damien Harris revealed "the biggest catalyst" to stopping the Tennessee Volunteers in their 'Third Saturday In October' rivalry game at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday (October 18) during an exclusive interview with iHeartMedia presented in partnership with Dr. Pepper's 'The Pepper Portal.'

Harris, who led the Tide in rushing during each of his last three seasons in Tuscaloosa from 2016 to 2018, said leading rusher Jam Miller, who was upgraded from questionable to probable, would be a key factor in keeping Tennessee's uptempo offense off the field.

"It's going to be imperative," Harris responded when asked of the importance of getting Miller back in the lineup when he was previously listed as questionable. "Tennessee's offense, [quarterback] Joey Aguilar, they score 50 points a game so what is going to be the biggest catalyst to stopping them. It's not going to be expecting the defense to hold them to 14 points, to 17 points. That's too tall of a task, we have to be honest with ourselves.

"The name of the game is going to be keeping the ball in [quarterback] Ty Simpson's hands and how do you do that? It's by mixing the run game, leaning, depending on the run game," Harris said. "A guy like Jam Miller, who's been a superstar when he's out there for Alabama, using him in a way to where you can continue to move the chains, continue to stay in second-and-six, you don't want to live in a world where it's third-and-eight and Ty Simpson has to make plays with his arm."

"You don't want to get into a shootout with Joey Aguilar and Tennessee's offense," he added. "They're too good at scoring points, they're too good at methodically getting the ball down the field. The stat that represents this the best is they're second in the country with 160 first downs. That means they don't look for the big play, they don't try to gas you. They try to make your defense tired and wear you out to the point where when they get to the red zone, your defense, they're not playing as fundamentally sound as they were at the beginning of the drive. The communication isn't as clear as it was at the beginning of the drive. So if you're Alabama, I would have a very good run plan in place."

Miller leads Alabama with 267 yards on 58 rushing attempts, despite being limited to just three games after missing the first three due to a dislocated collarbone and sustaining a concussion in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's win against Missouri. Alabama has won every game against Tennessee at Bryant-Denny Stadium since 2007 -- with their 2005 victory later vacated as part of NCAA sanctions -- and previously won 15 consecutive from 2007 to 2021, which included all but one during legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban's 17-year tenure, but has lost each of the last two road games at Neyland Stadium.

'The Pepper Portal' is a first-of-its-kind interactive fan experience that will connect Tennessee and Alabama fans from Cool Beans Bar and Grill in Knoxville and Rama in Tuscaloosa in the hours leading up to kickoff at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Guests will be able to engage live with fans in the rival cities through the Pepper Portal, meet local NIL talent onsite, and celebrate gameday with Dr. Pepper.