KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Mistakes and miscues continued to pile up inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday. No. 7 Alabama was unable to get out of its own way in a 24-17 loss to No. 11 Tennessee.

Alabama racked up a season-high 15 penalties for 115 yards Saturday night. The Tide bookended the game with offensive penalties starting with a false start called on Parker Brailsford on Alabama’s second play from scrimmage. After mistakes continued throughout the game, Alabama wide receiver Kendrick Law was hit with a 15-yard personal foul setting up a difficult fourth-and-22 with 1:48 left.

Alabama failed to convert on a long fourth down play. After getting the ball back one more time, Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe threw an interception on the first play of the Tide's final possession to seal its second loss of the season.

The Crimson Tide set the tone for a mistake-fueled afternoon with 10 penalties in the first half. Six of those were called on the Tide’s offense, including Brailsford’s false start on the opening drive. After electing to receive the kickoff, Alabama went three plays for -10 yards and punted.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said after the game. “It’s false starts. Just getting off to a rough start there and then there’s a couple more intermixed in there. There’s some mental mistakes. The two games early in the year and this one, we just can’t get over the hump and it’s gonna put you in situations where you’ve got your back against the wall.”

After offensive penalties became the story of Alabama’s first-half struggle, it was the defense that took over making mistakes in the second half. The Tide’s unit had a strong opening period but started to fold against Tennessee’s offense as the penalties piled up.

The Tide’s defense was called for four penalties in the second half, including a pass interference on linebacker Jihaad Campbell in the third quarter that set up Tennessee with first-and-goal at the Alabama 2-yard line. The Volunteers scored on the next play to tie the game at 7-7.

Alabama was further crippled by the ref's yellow flag when Law was hit with the personal foul. Although Tennessee defensive back Boo Carter also got in the face of the Alabama receiver, Law's actions still drew what was ultimately a back-breaking flag that cost the TIde an easier fourth-down opportunity.

“Can’t kill ourselves like that,” DeBoer said. “There’s times where you see we’re locked in but we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to be better, there’s no question. We can’t win a football game when we have mistakes like we had up there with all the penalties.”

Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Alabama ranked No. 113 in penalty yards and continued its trend of being flagged frequently on both sides of the ball. The Tide has now racked up over 100 yards of penalties in two games and struggled to stay disciplined in the toughest road environment it’s faced this season.

“This environment here is a crazy environment,” Tide wide receiver Germie Bernard said. “Mistakes are gonna happen. Those were things that we can clean up. I think we can do better during the week and just continue to harp on the things that we need to to continue to build and continue to move forward.”

While Alabama is looking to put its flag-filled loss behind them, Saturday's game saw the Tide's already worrying penalty trend move in the opposite direction. Penalties helped cause Alabama to drop a crucial game against its rival and one of the top teams in the country. With two losses, the Tide is on thin ice and another mistake-filled game could send Alabama tumbling out of the College Football Playoff conversation.

Alabama will look to cut down on mistakes to avoid back-to-back defeats when it faces another ranked opponent in No. 19 Missouri. The Tide (5-2, 2-2 SEC) will take on the Tigers (6-1, 2-1) at TIME next Saturday inside Bryant-Denny Stadium.