There was a time when Nick Saban favored rules to slow the pace of up-tempo offenses in college football. It was a health issue, he said in 2014.

That soon changed as his Alabama offenses adopted the idea a few months later with Blake Sims at quarterback. The Crimson Tide dabbled in the dark arts here and there since, though it hasn't been a big part of the plan this fall.

The hurry-up, no-huddle attack was back Saturday.

With the Alabama offense briefly stuck in the mud, new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll turned up the pace late in the second quarter.

The next four drives went 85 yards, 77 yards, 76 yards and 73 yards.

Touchdown. Touchdown. Touchdown. And interception at the goal line.

Alabama led 7-0 when it started and it was a blowout when it eased back on the throttle.

"Coach Daboll said we want to go fast because they're having trouble lining up to us," tight end Hale Hentges said. "So, you guys saw that wrinkle in there and it worked out for us."

This sped-up attack spanned both quarterbacks and helped finish off a stumbling Vol team for an 11th straight win in the historic rivalry.

Back in 2014, the talk was about instituting a rule that forced offenses to wait at least 10 seconds into the play clock before running the next play. Alabama would have violated that three times while approaching that invisible barrier several other times.

It obviously caught Tennessee off guard when Alabama turned the knob on the fourth possession of the game. A 19-yard pass to Jerry Jeudy extended the drive on third down deep in Alabama territory.

Just 10 seconds later, the shotgun snap was in Jalen Hurts' hands. Tennessee tried to substitute, but that's almost impossible in a hurry-up situation like that. The 12th man was a good four yards from the sideline when the ball was snapped. Illegal substitution, five yards.

The race was on from there.

"We were getting back to the ball and they were pretty tired," Alabama receiver Calvin Ridley said. "After that, we said we're going to go with it."

To be clear, it wasn't all speed, all the time. This kind of rhythm requires positive yardage or at least a completed pass to get things rolling. A penalty or injury kills that momentum.

After an incomplete pass on the same drive, Alabama snapped the ball in 13 seconds, 11 seconds and 8 seconds on the next three plays. The plays went for 6 yards, 19 yards and 13 yards, though the third was called back for holding. Tempo eased on the wild drive that saw penalties and a fumble. It still ended in a touchdown on Bo Scarbrough's second pile-diving fourth-down run.

The speed was back on the final drive of the first half. Off a short run, Hurts quickly threw to Ridley for 26 yards. The next two tempo snaps didn't yield big gains on a drive that ended in Damien Harris' 11-yard touchdown run and a 21-0 lead.

The most effective use of tempo came on the first drive after halftime. Alabama went "fastball" five times on plays that gained 52 of the possession's 76 yards.

Hurts went 4-for-4 in what turned out to be his final march, gaining 54 yards. It ended on a 14-yard touchdown pass to Irv Smith Jr. that was snapped 12 seconds after the previous play ended. The tight end ran past two linebackers, neither of which picked up the sophomore who was wide open across the middle of the field.

That wasn't by accident.

"Yeah, a lot of times people are scrambling to get out there and whenever you spread it out wide, a lot of times they'll leave the middle of the field open," Hentges said. "We exploited that."

The plan continued after Tua Tagovailoa took over with 10:17 left in the third quarter. Alabama had five straight plays starting between 10 and 12 seconds after the previous one ended. Tagovailoa's 17-yard run was followed by a 3-yard Najee Harris carry, then an 11-yard pass to Ridley.

Of course, that drive ended in the 97-yard interception return for Tennessee's only points. That play, however, was not rushed. It was not part of the hurry-up string of plays.

From there, Alabama moved faster than normal, but wasn't at quite the pace it used in the previous four drives.

Saban lamented the sluggish start to the game but praised the response. More than one factor contributed to that, though the sense of urgency on offense was certainly a part of that.

Now, a full rundown of the 19 plays we counted as running after going hurry-up. It includes number of seconds into play clock, preceding play and the result.

Possession 4

1. 10 seconds, caught Tennessee in substitution

2. 13 seconds, Damien Harris run middle, 6 yards, first down

3. 11 seconds, off first down, Hale Hentges throw middle, read option, 19 yards

4. 8 seconds, off first down, Damien Harris off tackle, 13 yards (holding on Jonah Williams)

5. 13 seconds, incomplete screen pass to Ridley

Possession 5

1. 13 seconds, off short run, 26-yard pass to Ridley, first down

2. 13 seconds, off first down, Hurts sack 1-yard loss

3. 9 seconds, off first down, Jacobs 1-yard run

Possession 6 (second half)

1. 12 seconds, off 7-yard run, Damien Harris 10-yard run up middle, first down.

2. 12 seconds, off first down, play-action, quick pass across middle to Ridley for 13 yards, first down.

3. 13 seconds, off short run, pass to Irv Smith across middle for 12 yards, first down.

4. 9 seconds, off first down, handoff to Bo Scarbrough for 3 yards.

5. 12 seconds, off short run, pass to Irv Smith across the middle (nobody picked up) for 14-yard touchdown.

Possession 7 (Tua Tagovailoa at QB)

1. 13 seconds, off incomplete, slant to Ridley for 7 yards

2. 11 seconds, off short run, Tagovailoa 2-yard run, first down.

3. 12 seconds, off first down, Tagovailoa 17-yard QB draw, first down.

4. 10 seconds, off first down, Najee Harris 3-yard run.

5. 11 seconds, off first down, Josh Jacobs 1-yard run.

6. 11 seconds, off short run, Jacobs no gain.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande.