BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- No. 8 Alabama celebrated Coach Bill Curry's birthday Saturday with one point for every year of his life in a 47-30 thrashing of No. 5 Tennessee.
Led by stellar performances from quarterback Gary Hollingsworth and tailback Siran Stacy, the Crimson Tide grabbed to grab the inside track in the Southeastern Conference race. Alabama hasn't been to the Sugar Bowl in a decade.
'Coach Curry got the game ball,' Alabama linebacker Keith McCants said. 'He told us before the game that he wanted another birthday present, so we got it for him.'
Stacy, subbing for injured starter Murry Hill, scored four touchdowns on 317 yards total offense. He had 125 yards rushing on 33 carries, nine receptions for 158 yards and 34 yards on two kick returns. He scored on a 75-yard pass play and runs of 9, 6 and 15 yards against a defense that had not allowed a rushing touchdown all season.
Hollingsworth, a backup at the beginning of the year, completed a school-record 32 of 46 passes for 379 yards, including touchdown passes of 4 yards to Kevin Turner, 11 yards to Lamonde Russell and the shovel pass that Stacy turned into a TD.
'Gary Hollingsworth continues to amaze me,' Curry said. 'To come in here and start just four games and establish a school record just amazed me. Siran Stacy is incredible.'
Alabama, 6-0 and 4-0 in the SEC, also scored on two Philip Doyle field goals.
Tennessee, 5-1 and 2-1 in the conference, scored on 1-yard runs by Greg Amsler and Chuck Webb and touchdown passes by Andy Kelly of 33 yards to Anthony Morgan and 3 yards to Carl Pickens. The Volunteers, who had a 10-game winning streak snapped, also scored on a 43-yard field goal by Greg Burke.
The victory leaves Alabama as the only unbeaten team in the SEC and the only team without a conference loss. The Crimson Tide still plays at home against Mississippi State and travels to Louisiana State and No. 11 Auburn.
'I haven't been on an Alabama team that was 6-0 since my freshman year,' senior defensive back John Mangum said. 'But this was a big win for us because it was a stepping stone. Now we have everybody in the league shooting for us.'
Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors said Alabama 'jumped on us quickly and their defense played with confidence and experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they played their best game of the season today. Their team deserved to win.'
Alabama took a 7-0 lead on its first possession, driving 67 yards in 13 plays with Hollingsworth hitting Turner on a 4-yard TD pass. The Crimson Tide made the score 10-0 on a 22-yard field goal by Doyle with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.
Tennessee, which was held to minus-2 yards total offense in the first quarter, substituted Kelly for starter Sterling Henton in the second quarter. Kelly drove the Volunteers on an 8-play, 66-yard drive to cut the margin to 10-7 on Amsler's 1-yard run with 8:30 left in the half.
The Tide took just two plays to respond. Stacy took a shovel pass from Hollingsworth and dashed 75 yards untouched for Alabama's second touchdown of the game. But Doyle's kick was blocked by Charles McRae and Alabama led 16-7.
Kelly again narrowed the score to 16-14, hitting Morgan on a 33-yard TD pass with 2:57 left in the half. But Alabama drove 80 yards in 15 plays with the clock winding down to make it 19-14 on Doyle's 19-yard field goal with five seconds left in the half.
The Tide took the second-half kickoff and marched 57 yards in 10 plays, going ahead 26-14 when Hollingsworth hit Russell on an 11-yard strike.
Tennessee's Terence Cleveland fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Mike Smith recovered for Alabama at the Volunteers 19. Four plays later, Stacy swept left from the 9 to make it 33-14.
Tennessee answered with 10 straight points to cut the margin to 33-24 in the third quarter. Burke hit a 43-yard field goal with 6:08 left and Webb plunged over on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 to cap a 7-play, 38-yard drive with 1:38 left.
Alabama drove 84 yards in 12 plays in the fourth quarter, with Stacy scoring on a 6-yard run with 8:10 left.
The Volunteers scored on a 3-yard pass from Kelly to Carl Pickens with 3:59 left, but a pass attempt for two points failed and the score remained 40-30.
Stacy finished off the scoring on a 15-yard TD run with 28 seconds left to cap an 8-play, 44-yard drive.
