Tennessee humbled Alabama in more ways than one during their college football rivalry game on the Third Saturday in October. Not only did the Volunteers prove victorious after four quarters, their fanbase was so loud that the Crimson Tide genuinely believed the crowd noise at Neyland Stadium is not real.
As it would turn out, more than 100,000 fans screaming at the top of their lungs during a one-score rivalry game creates deafening levels of volume. Who woulda thunk?
The moment in question happened during the third offensive possession of the entire game. Alabama started with the ball at its own 18-yard-line and drove to the Tennessee 44. A one-yard loss on 1st-and-10 set up 2nd-and-11 from the 45. A false start penalty made it 2nd-and-16.
With the visitors visibly rattled already, Neyland Stadium went absolutely bonkers.
In that moment, Crimson Tide Sports Network play-by-play broadcaster Chris Stewart made a false claim about the raucous noise. He definitively stated that the home team pipes in fake crowd noise through its speakers on top of the max-capacity crowd of 101,915.
“They also pipe in crowd noise, as well.”
— Rob Harvey (@RobMHarvey) October 21, 2024
Suuuuurrrreeeeee. pic.twitter.com/c6pyTistyP
A University of Tennessee spokesperson confirmed to VolQuest on Monday that is not true. Music does play through the speakers in between plays. Public address announcer Jeff Jarnigan also gets his voice heard through the speakers during games. That’s it! No crowd noise.
Tight ends coach Alec Abeln jabbed at Stewart during an appearance at the Knoxville Quarterback Club to praise Vol Nation for their support.
That stadium, when it is rocking, is better than any other environment in the country. We got people down, I guess, down in Alabama calling in and saying we’re pumping crowd noise in there. I am telling you, it is not. I have been places where they do pump in the crowd noise. It is 100% legit in that building.
— Tennessee TE coach Alec Abeln
Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe also gave credit where credit is due after the loss over the weekend.
We do got to acknowledge that it was a great crowd that we just played in front of. One of the greatest crowds in the country. So it’s on us to control our controllables, understand our assignment, understand our snap count and understand what we need to do so that we can move forward when playing games like this.
— Jalen Milroe
To be fair to Stewart, Tennessee did use its speakers to create a false home-field advantage during the 2020 season when crowds were limited due to social distancing. So did every other SEC team.
Maybe Stewart got confused. Probably not. He got it wrong and got humbled!