COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Tide’s Revenge Is ‘Mighty Sweet,’ 56-28

Coach Johnny Majors of Tennessee saw it as a mauling, and 95,116 eyewitnesses would be hard-pressed to dispute it.

Alabama, the nation’s second-ranked team, extracted some revenge for four consecutive losses to Tennessee, burying the Volunteers, 56-28, Saturday behind a three-touchdown, 217-yard rushing performance by Bobby Humphrey.

“Alabama is playing with confidence and they mauled us physically, particularly with their offense,” Majors said.

Said Alabama Coach Ray Perkins: “That was mighty sweet. I feel a lot better about this team than I could ever expect.”

Perkins’ approval could be coming at an ideal time. After the easy Southeastern Conference victory over the Volunteers, the Tide returns home next week to face sixth-ranked Penn State.

“That’s the biggest win I’ve had in a long time at the University of Alabama,” Perkins said. “Our team did a great job today.”

The Tide had 457 yards rushing.

“It was quite evident to the eye that we were beaten by an outstanding and superior team,” Majors said. “However, we may not be a good measuring stick because we are not very good at this point.”

Mike Shula also accounted for three touchdowns as the Tide scored on six of its first seven possessions to stretch its winning streak to 10 games.

Alabama had a 21-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old, but the Volunteers fought back to cut the lead to seven before the Tide came up with scoring drives of 74, 62 and 48 yards to put the game out of reach in the second quarter.

Humphrey scored on runs of 27, 1 and 7 yards in the Tide’s highest scoring output in the series, bettering its 51-0 victory in 1906. It was the most points given up by the Volunteers since a 60-0 loss to North Carolina in 1893.

Shula threw scoring passes of 34 yards to Clay Whitehurst and 31 yards to Angelo Stafford, giving the Alabama quarterback a school-record 32 touchdown passes.

Shula also scored on a one-yard run as Alabama (7-0, 3-0) extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games since last year’s 16-14 loss to Tennessee.

Alabama’s other touchdowns came on Bo Wright’s 13-yard run and Gene Jelks’ 4-yard run.

Tennessee (2-4 and 0-3) got touchdown passes from Jeff Francis, covering 70 yards to Anthony Miller and 11 yards to Terence Cleveland. Keith Davis scored on a 2-yard run, and the Volunteers added a late touchdown on a 6-yard pass from Moses Collins to Cleveland.

Humphrey’s 217 yards in 26 carries are second at Alabama only by Bobby Marlow’s 233 yards against Auburn in 1951 and Johnny Musso’s 221 yards against Auburn in 1970.

The Tide’s Van Tiffin converted the eight extra points, giving him 124 in a row, one shy of the NCAA record held by Oklahoma’s Uwe von Schamann.

Tiffin’s kicks helped Alabama stretch its NCAA team mark of consecutive extra points to 183.