A kick in the gut: Lincoln's kick blocked as time expires, 12-10

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — So easily, it could have been enshrined as three and a half of the greatest minutes ever in Tennessee football lore.

Instead, it ended with a whack, a final thud that might yet be heralded as the moment that preserved an Alabama national championship.

“We get that onside kick, the way the game was going at that point, it kind of felt like we were meant to win,’’ Tennessee kicker Daniel Lincoln said Saturday after No. 1 Alabama escaped with a 12-10 victory over the Vols at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Lincoln lined up a 44-yard field goal that would have tumbled the Tide had it made it to and over the crossbar.

During an Alabama timeout with 4 seconds to play, a crowd of 92,012 and a national CBS audience pondered what a near-miraculous turn of events the upstart Vols had produced to arrive at the brink of a mammoth upset.

But Alabama blocked the kick almost as it came off Lincoln’s foot. The crowd exploded in joyous relief and the Crimson Tide (8-0, 5-0 SEC) marches on with its championship dreams intact.

“To beat the number-one team in the country, you’ve got to almost play perfect,’’ said first-year UT coach Lane Kiffin.

In a game decided by field goals, Alabama was perfect.

Alabama’s Leigh Tiffin kicked first-half field goals of 38, 50 and 22 yards.

Then he added a 49-yarder with 6:31 to play to make it 12-3, a seemingly insurmountable lead for Alabama’s stalwart defense to protect.

Lincoln, meanwhile, made only one of four tries, a 24-yarder in the second quarter.

He missed just short from 47 yards as the first half ended and then had a 43-yard attempt blocked early in the fourth quarter.

“Special teams is just as important as offense and defense and today it showed,’’ said UT receiver Gerald Jones, who scored the game’s only touchdown.

Alabama’s blocks were both by Terrence Cody, the 354-pound nose tackle who is having an All-America season on his way to the first round of the NFL draft.

“We allowed so much penetration,’’ said Kiffin. “They put the big boys in there. Cody versus (UT center Cody) Sullins.

“We tried to avoid that match-up as much as we could offensively. We couldn’t avoid it on field goals.’’

“I just knew,’’ said Cody, “we had to make a play. I had to make a play. We couldn’t wait on anybody else to make a play.

“I got a good jump off the line, pushed the guy back and just stuck my arm up.’’

Tennessee (3-4, 1-3) made a bunch of plays down the stretch.

The game seemed over for all intents and purposes when, trailing 12-3, the Vols were penalized for roughing Alabama’s punter with 3:43 to play.

The flag gave the Tide a first down and the opportunity to run out the clock.

But on Alabama’s next snap Eric Berry forced a Mark Ingram fumble and Tennessee recovered at the Crimson Tide with 3:29 to play.

Jonathan Crompton rose to the occasion, marching the Vols for a touchdown on an 11-yard strike to Jones with 1:19 to play.

Trailing 12-10, UT successfully executed the onside kick, Denarius Moore recovering at the UT 41.

Another completion to Jones crossed midfield, then Crompton found tight end Luke Stocker for a 23-yard gain to the Alabama 27.

“After I made that catch,’’ said Stocker, “I knew we were in field-goal range.

“Words can’t describe the way I felt, thinking we were going to win the game. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.’’

The Vols were out of timeouts and, thus it came down to Lincoln and a 44-yard attempt.

“We had complete faith in Daniel Lincoln and the field-goal team,’’ said defensive end Chris Walker. “I had no doubt in my mind we were going to win the game.’’

Lincoln, a junior, was good on eight of 10 tries before Saturday. Since suffering a quadriceps injury, however, his range has been limited.

His career-long is 49 yards, which came earlier this year. He was 10-of-15 from 40 yards or longer in his career prior to Saturday.

“I thought I was good coming into the game,’’ he said. “I thought I was about 90 percent and in warm-ups I kind of re-injured it.

“I got some medicine and felt pretty decent. You don’t feel anything when you go out in front of 95,000 people.’’

Alabama’s penetration on both blocks was significant, however.

“I’ve always lived my life that I can control what I can control and leave everything else up to the Lord,’’ Lincoln said.

Kiffin and his players said this one hurt worse than the 23-13 loss to then-No. 1 Florida last month.

“This is completely different,’’ said Kiffin.

The Vols outgained Alabama 341 yards to 246. Instead of yielding to the Crimson Tide’s physicality, Tennessee won the time-of-possession battle decisively in both the third and fourth quarters.

Crompton threw an interception in the first half but fared better than several other SEC quarterbacks against Alabama’s vaunted defense: 21-of-36 for 265 yards.

“After that roughing-the-punter penalty, a lot of teams could have quit,’’ Kiffin said. “So I am really proud of our effort.

“But I don’t believe in moral victories. We should have won that game.’’