Crimson Tide Rolls Past No. 20 Vols

Saturday, October 20th 2007, 3:41 pm

By: News On 6

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) _ John Parker Wilson passed for a career-high 363 yards and three touchdowns, DJ Hall had a school-record 13 catches for 185 yards and Alabama rolled to a 41-17 victory over No. 20 Tennessee on Saturday.

It was a rollicking debut for Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban in the intense border rivalry that had been dominated lately by the Volunteers.

Alabama (6-2, 4-1 SEC) got its biggest win in the series since a 56-28 victory in 1986 and had lost 10 of the last 12 meetings.

Saban set the tone by opening the game with a successful onside kick that set up the first of four Leigh Tiffin field goals for a team missing three suspended starters, including offensive linemen Antoine Caldwell and Marlon Davis and No. 2 rusher Glen Coffee.

Even without two of his blockers, Wilson completed 32-of-46 passes, including touchdowns to Hall of 16 and 2 yards. He also ran six times for 28 yards.

Terry Grant carried 26 times for 104 yards and had six catches for 31 yards and a TD.

Defensively, Alabama mostly denied big plays to Erik Ainge, Lucas Taylor and the league's top passing team. Ainge was 22-of-35 for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Taylor, the Southeastern Conference's leading receiver, managed just two catches for 15 yards.

Arian Foster ran for 91 yards on just 13 carries and gained another 74 on four catches.