I don’t think there’s much question that top-ranked Alabama is a better football team than ninth-ranked Tennessee, but I’m pretty sure these Vols aren’t 39 points worse than the Crimson Tide. At least not when these Vols are reasonably healthy.

So here’s my ten cents’ worth of free advice to Tennessee following a humbling, humiliating, 49-10 loss to Alabama on Saturday in Neyland Stadium: Flush it. Forget it. Focus on the future.

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As tough as Saturday was for the Vols to take, it could be worse.

Tennessee senior quarterback Joshua Dobbs

You know what would be worse? Letting the Tide beat you again in two weeks, when the Vols will follow their desperately-needed open date by playing at South Carolina in Williams-Brice Stadium.

The Vols might very well let Alabama beat them twice this season. If the second happens two months from now, that’s OK. If the second happens two weeks from now, that’s not OK.

Flush it. Forget it. Focus on the future.

Would it have been nice to see the full-strength Vols get a shot at Alabama? Absolutely. Full-strength Tennessee is probably the only team in the SEC East that could maybe — just maybe — give the Tide a decent game, and the Vols went into Saturday’s game without a half-dozen defensive starters, and two more left the lineup during the game itself.

And, again, that was only the defensive side.

The Vols after a few possessions Saturday were left with one offensive line starter from Week One — junior center Coleman Thomas — on the field. And Thomas was benched earlier this season.

Alabama isn’t a particularly fun team to play anytime, but the Tide are particularly un-fun to play when you’re playing your seventh consecutive week, and your fourth consecutive week against a top-25 team. And the Vols — through no fault other than their own, to be fair — had to overcome three-score deficits to win or at least take the lead in each of those past three games against ranked opponents.

Tennessee junior defensive end Derek Barnett

While this Tennessee team might not have had enough left in the emotional tank to storm from behind again Saturday, it unequivocally did not have the enough left in the physical tank. They were done.

They played hard. They didn’t quit. They just didn’t have anything left. There’s a major difference in those two things.

If you think Tennessee quit in that game, do yourself a favor and watch guys like defensive backs Emmanuel Moseley and Micah Abernathy playing in the second half. Moseley played virtually every snap for Tennessee’s defense, and he was flying around the field and sticking his nose in there to tackle Alabama’s big backs, even in the final minutes. Abernathy pulled a hamstring trying to catch Tide tailback Bo Scarbrough down the sideline with less than 12 minutes left in the game. He probably wouldn’t have caught Scarborough anyway, but he tried, and the football gods rewarded him with a pulled hammy.

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So, no, the players didn’t quit. And say what you will about the play-calling from Tennessee’s offense in that game, but there is no play call on this or any other planet that could succeed with Alabama’s front seven completely caving in the Vols’ patchwork offensive line — which had two freshmen playing tackle, by the way — on virtually every snap. When the Tide wanted to get into the backfield and create pressure, they did. And they wanted to do it pretty much every time Joshua Dobbs dropped back to pass.

In fact, two of the smartest things Tennessee’s coaching staff did Saturday were two throws of the towel. The first was a decision to not have Dobbs take the ball on many designed runs, and the second was taking Dobbs out of the game in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee junior linebacker Colton Jumper

Dobbs has taken enough hits this season. He’d taken enough hits Saturday. The Vols will be in situations later this season when they have no choice but to force Dobbs to take more hits. Saturday was not one of those situations. Dobbs going down with a major injury down 32 or 39 points in the fourth quarter of a game would have been a disaster.

Tennessee won’t be 100 percent healthy again this season, and I’m not suggesting that simply because no football team is ever 100 percent healthy. All-SEC senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin won’t return this season, and All-SEC cornerback and All-America return specialist Cameron Sutton might not return this season. We’ll have to wait and see about that. And we don’t know if any of Tennessee’s Saturday injuries were potential longterm ones.

What I do know, though, is this: If Tennessee gets a second chance against Alabama this season, the Vols will be healthier that day than they were Saturday. It would be hard for a team to be any more beat-up than Tennessee was after Saturday’s game, and that was evident.

Is Alabama the best team in the country? Probably.

Could Tennessee beat Alabama? Maybe. Maybe not. But certainly not with the team it put on the field Saturday.

The Vols would do well to get as healthy as possible next week, then go rebuild their confidence while punching back in their own weight class and hope to get a second shot to shock the Tide this season.

Don’t let Alabama beat you a second time in October, or you likely won’t get another chance to beat the Tide this season.

Flush it. Forget it. Focus on the future.

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Contact Wes Rucker by email at wesrucker247@gmail.com or ON TWITTER, or FOLLOW GOVOLS247 ON FACEBOOK.