No. 6 Alabama has a knack for closing out tight games, a trait that was missing last year

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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — No. 6 Alabama sure knows how to finish.

The Crimson Tide have closed out all three of their Southeastern Conference games with big plays in crunch time. It's the kind of repeated resolve that could bode well against 11th-ranked Tennessee at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday.

“This is a tough team, and all we do is fight,” quarterback Ty Simpson said. “Three Top 25 games and they all come down to the wire. That’s hard to do. That’s what Alabama is. We’re going to keep swinging and make sure that we play together.”

The last three meetings in the rivalry known as the “Third Saturday in October” have been one-possession games in the fourth quarter. Alabama (5-1, 3-0 SEC) came up short in last year’s 24-17 loss in Knoxville, getting outscored 24-10 in the second half and mustering only 3 yards over its last four possessions.

But the Tide believe this year will be different.

“We feel more confident in general as a team,” linebacker Deontae Lawson said. “I think we got that edge that we need. It helps us when we’re on the road. We preached all year to be elite in critical situations."

Coach Kalen DeBoer preaches it weekly, even daily. And the Tide seem to listen.

With 5:22 remaining last week at then-No. 14 Missouri, DeBoer showed ultimate trust in his team. Up 20-17 and facing a fourth-and-8 play, DeBoer asked his offense to make a play. Simpson hit Lotzeir Brooks for 29 yards to extend the drive. Four plays later, Alabama found the end zone to extend its lead to 27-17.

DeBoer's defense sealed the victory in the final minute when Dijon Lee intercepted a pass. Simpson described those moments as “unbreakable.”

The defense came up huge the previous week in a 30-14 victory against then-No. 16 Vanderbilt, forcing two turnovers that led to 10 points.

And the week before that, the unit held Georgia to zero fourth-quarter points in a 24-21 win while Alabama's offense did enough to ice the game.

Even more impressive about Alabama's recent run of closeouts is two of the three came on the road against ranked opponents; Alabama’s two road wins match last season’s total. And there’s a palpable difference in confidence between this year and last.

DeBoer's confidence shows in his aggressive decisions. Alabama went 3 for 3 on fourth-down attempts against Missouri. And the Tide have attempted (16) and converted (10) more fourth downs than any SEC team.

The message from DeBoer has been clear: He’s playing to win and he trusts his players to execute on both sides of the ball.

“There’s a feeling you have, a belief you have,” DeBoer said. “A lot of it is on the body language and on the execution and just feel. When you got a quarterback with some guys around him that can go make plays, you got to let him play.

“You can’t be reckless, but we’re going to play to win. We’ve done that quite a bit this season already and want to continue to play to win.”

It helps that the outcomes have gone their way.

“I think this is probably some of the best team football I’ve ever been a part of,” DeBoer said. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a team sticking together. It’s a team covering for each other. I think there’s a toughness that we have. We talk about toughness wins — that’s mental, physical to emotional toughness.”

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