Tennessee 30 Auburn 24
Photo Credit: Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee went on the road with a first year head coach and knocked off the No. 21 team in the nation by a score of 30-24 on Saturday. It was an incredibly fun game to watch and the Vols played well from start to finish. This win is Pruitt's first SEC win and it ends a streak of 11 consecutive SEC losses for Tennessee. My score prediction of 23-20 was only 10 points off of the final score. On September 29, after Tennessee's loss to Georgia, I confidently tweeted that Tennessee would pull off the upset. Saturday was a great day for all of Vol Nation.
Auburn opened the game with a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive, taking a 7-0 lead. Ty Chandler ran the ball for 18 yards on Tennessee's first play of the game. Later in the Vols' opening possession, Tim Jordan caught a 19-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano and picked up 18 yards on the ground on consecutive plays. Tennessee answered the Tigers' early score with a 42-yard field goal by Brent Cimaglia. Auburn marched down the field and I expected them to take a 14-3 lead after they had a 1st-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Instead, the Vols' defense stood their ground and forced the Tigers to kick a field goal. Then, a 48-yard field goal attempt by Brent Cimaglia was blocked by Auburn. Although this promising drive, which included an impressive 30-yard reception by Marquez Callaway, came to a hault, Tennessee made up for it. Bryce Thompson intercepted Auburn's Jarrett Stidham just 2 plays later. A 20-yard completion from Guarantano to Jauan Jennings converted a 3rd-and-13. Ty Chandler tied the game at 10, as he was wide open in the middle of the field for a 42-yard touchdown catch.
Auburn turned the ball over on their next possession as well. Stidham was under duress, as he was much of the game, forcing him to throw a poor pass, which was intercepted by Jonathan Kongbo and returned 10 yards to the Auburn 37-yard line. Unfortunately, Tennessee had to punt and no points resulted from the takeaway. Next, Auburn's speedy Anthony Schwartz raced down the field for a 76-yard score on the second play of the drive. The Tigers led 17-10 at that point. With just 44 seconds remaining in the second half, Callaway fair caught an Auburn punt at the Tigers' 48-yard line. Guarantano completed passes to Ty Chandler, Brandon Johnson and Jordan Murphy to set the Vols up for a field goal try. The reliable Brent Cimaglia connected on his 45-yard try, cutting Tennessee's halftime deficit to 17-13.
Tennessee's drove 86 yards down the field in 12 plays on their second drive of the second half, taking their first lead of the day. The scoring drive was highlighted by Josh Palmer's 36-yard reception on a third down and was capped off with Guarantano finding Jauan Jennings for a 25-yard touchdown. This gave Tennessee a 20-17 lead. A targeting call against Auburn on the touchdown pass allowed Tennessee to kick the ball off from the 50-yard line. They kicked an onside kick and although they did not recover it, they did not give up any free yardage to the Tigers, who gained possession at their own 25-yard line. The Tigers burned a timeout prior to the first play of that possession and were booed by their own fans as they trotted to the sideline. Then, 2 plays later, Stidham was sacked by Kyle Phillips and Alexis Johnson, fumbling the ball. Several players wrestled for the ball, but Alontae Taylor eventually scooped the ball up at the 1-yard line and stepped across the goal line for a Tennessee touchdown.
The fourth quarter began with Auburn kicker, Anders Carlson badly missing a 54-yard field goal. This season, Vol fans have not been very pleased with the majority of offensive coordinator, Tyson Helton's play calling. In this matchup, he insisted on running the ball on first down, even when it clearly was not working. With 11 minutes remaining in the game, Helton dialed up a pass on the first play of a drive and it resulted in a 42-yard completion to Josh Palmer. Then, with just over 9 minutes left in the game, Deandre Johnson's fourth down sack gave Tennessee possession of the ball with a 13-point lead. This was the biggest defensive stop of the season for the Vols, thus far. Late in the game, Auburn put together an 88-yard scoring drive, capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass. Jauan Jennings recovered the ensuing onside kick and Tennessee emerged with a huge 30-24 road victory!
Ty Chandler led Tennessee in rushing with 50 yards on 16 carries. Chandler also made 5 receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown. Josh Palmer snagged 3 passes for a total of 84 yards. As a team, Tennessee had 396 yards of total offense (328 passing and 68 rushing.)
5 Takeaways
1. Guarantano's career day: This was easily the best game of Guarantano's career. He completed 21-32 passes for 328 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He completed passes to 9 different players, distributing the ball perfectly. On third down plays, he totaled 188 yards on 11-14 passing. I am very proud of Guarantano's accuracy and confidence in the pocket. This incredible performance should silence those who were calling for Keller Chryst to take Jarrett's place. Jarrett Guarantano is my quarterback!
2. Tennessee's first SEC win since since November 19, 2016: Tennessee's 63-37 win over Missouri in 2016 was the last time that the Vols won an SEC game. Until Saturday. With this victory, Tennessee snaps their 11-game losing streak against SEC teams, as well as a streak of 15 consecutive losses to SEC West opponents, dating back to 2010. It feels great to finally win an SEC game. Who knew that Pruitt's first SEC win would come on the road against a ranked opponent? Tennessee may have finally found their guy in Pruitt.
3. Tennessee's defense put pressure on Stidham: Although the Vols' defense struggled with tackling early in the game, they made Auburn's Jarrett Stidham uncomfortable in the second half. Apparently, Stidham does not do well under pressure, because he made several costly mistakes for the Tigers. Tennessee's defense forced him into 2 interceptions and a fumble. Kyle Phillips had a career day, with 9 tackles and a forced fumble. Baylen Buchanan and Alontae Taylor each recorded 7 tackles, while Alexis Johnson finished with 6 tackles. Daniel Bituli, Bryce Thompson and Quart'e Sapp made 5 tackles each. Additionally, Deandre Johnson, Darrin Kirkland Jr., Shy Tuttle and Nigel Warrior each were responsible for 4 tackles. Tennessee's defense allowed just 10 rushing yards to Auburn for the entire second half! This is a wild stat and shows how dominate the Vols really were. The only disappointing news from Tennessee's defense is that redshirt senior, Jonathan Kongbo has torn his ACL and is out for the remainder of the season. Please keep this young man in your prayers. In other news, Daniel Bituli's targeting penalty late in Saturday's win will cost him the first half of the Alabama game next week.
4. Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway are a dynamic duo: This wide receiver tandem owned Auburn's defense on Saturday. Jennings had 5 catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Callaway hauled in 2 passes for 55 yards. These 2 make up one of the best duos in the SEC and are both extremely reliable targets for Guarantano. It was very pleasing to see Jennings haul in a touchdown pass, seeing as though he was given a second chance by Phillip Fulmer. They will continue to ball out as the season continues.
5. It sure feels good to be a Vol: Tennessee fans have gone through a decade of inconsistency and false hope. Last week, the Vols played with the confidence and belief that they could win, but couldn't get the job done. On Saturday, Tennessee decided that they were going to take control of the game and return to Knoxville with a win. Winning this game is important for Pruitt, Vol Nation and especially recruiting. Tennessee commit, Wanya Morris, is still being actively recruited by Auburn, so this win is huge for his decision. I am very glad that Tennessee, after several bad hires, has finally found the right guy to revive the program. Pruitt doesn't believe in taking a year to rebuild. He is looking to have success in year one.
I am ecstatic over this win. After the loss to Georgia, I tweeted that Tennessee would upset Auburn. Well, it happened. I am obviously biased toward Tennessee, but I was honestly confident in their chances, picking them to win by 3 points. Saturday was a great day for Vol fans everywhere. Go Vols!
