Observations from today's Alabama-Tennessee game (and the SEC):

1. Kudos to Tennessee. They clearly wanted the win more than Alabama and played like it.

2. Alabama is young. It really showed on the offensive and defensive lines. Tennessee manhandled us all day long.

3. With that in mind, one of the keys to wins in the SEC this year is to find the other team's youth and bring pressure. And then some more pressure on top of that. For some reason, we inexplicably never did this with TN's QB the way they attacked us at the line of scrimmage.

4. Granted, he was under a lot of pressure, but Russell never really threw down the field. Except for that last INT. We MUST mix it up more in order to have a chance to win.

5. The lack of quality in the SEC officiating is plainly evident. I saw this on both side, both in pettiness and obviously missed calls. Of course, as a Bama fan, the worst two to me were the missed facemask and the 1st qtr failure to call offsides when the TN left defensive end lined up with his entire head across the line of scrimmage. But, it was bad on both sides.

6. There is simply so much parity in the SEC this year. Almost any team can win on any given Saturday. With the possible exception of Arkansas.

Enjoy your cigars, Vols. You earned it.