Alabama turns to Tennessee with injury questions after narrow loss to Georgia

Alabama is starting Tennessee week with a short injury list that could matter a lot. The Crimson Tide are coming off a narrow loss to Georgia, and three starters came out of that game hurt: wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams, Racin Delgatty and Terrance Green. Now the team has to travel to Knoxville.

Those injuries headline Monday's news roundup from Roll 'Bama Roll, SB Nation's Alabama site. The roundup cites ESPN's Alex Scarborough, who called all three players banged up and said the injury report is the thing to watch this week. AL.com's Creg Stephenson wrote that Coleman-Williams appeared to suffer a concussion in the Georgia game. Roll 'Bama Roll writer Joshua Chatham said losing Delgatty in particular would hurt.

Scarborough also pointed to a problem on the field. Georgia ran and threw through the middle of Alabama's defense all night, and that has to get fixed before Saturday. Tennessee may not have an explosive offense, but Scarborough noted that the Vols will run the ball between the tackles. He added that the game will test how a young Alabama team handles a tough loss emotionally, especially quarterback Keelon Russell. Russell recovered from a rough start against Georgia but couldn't get the win.

Chatham isn't worried about Russell's confidence and expects him to learn from the Georgia film. He also sounded sure about the matchup itself. "The Vols are decidedly mediocre on offense and haven't faced a functional passing game," he wrote for Roll 'Bama Roll.

The loss did not hurt Alabama in the polls. The Tide stayed put at No. 6. Stephenson still has Georgia and Alabama at the top of his SEC power rankings, and he wrote that Alabama has largely closed a gap with the Bulldogs that looked huge at the end of last season. He also called the trip to Rocky Top a dangerous one for Alabama in recent years. Still, he said this Tennessee team doesn't look nearly as explosive as Josh Heupel's earlier teams.

Eddie Timanus of USA Today wrote that Alabama's playoff outlook has barely changed. Georgia is the only unbeaten team left in the conference, so a close loss to the Bulldogs won't do much damage. Timanus wrote that 10 wins would all but guarantee a playoff spot. The schedule still includes road games at Tennessee and LSU plus the Iron Bowl, but no Ole Miss or Texas.

The Georgia game also caused trouble off the field. Alabama athletics told AL.com it is gathering information after some fans threw trash onto the field following the loss. The department called the behavior unacceptable and said it would not be tolerated.

No. 6 Alabama (5-1) plays at No. 14 Tennessee (5-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC. The market still trusts the Tide. Alabama is favored at -277 on Novig, one of the venues listing the game, and the best sportsbook price on Alabama is -280 at theScore Bet. The spread has Tennessee getting 7.5 points, and the total sits at 53.5. Full numbers are on the game odds page.

The Tide are favored by more than a touchdown in a hostile stadium. How much that holds up may depend on what Alabama learns about Coleman-Williams, Delgatty and Green this week.