Tennessee football is looking to get back into the win column on Saturday.
Tennessee football is back in action looking to return to the win column to open the month of October.
The No. 17 Vols (3-1, 0-1 SEC) host Auburn (3-1, 1-1) on Saturday for the first meeting between the two programs since the 2020 COVID-shortened season. There will be a lot of familiar faces for UT head coach Josh Heupel — eight members of the Auburn coaching staff, including Tiger head coach Alex Golesh, coached under Heupel.
"I think it would give you an advantage if they didn’t also have so much familiarity with your staff," Golesh said. "I think the longer you do this, the more you end up with crossover like that, where there’s several guys in this league that started together, and then kind of spread out."
"It works both sides," Heupel said. "A lot of their staff has been with us and vice versa. It kind of balances things out."
Auburn hasn't been convincing this season, but the Tigers have escaped with power wins over Baylor (17-16 final) and Vanderbilt (21-15 final). The lone loss comes against Florida, at home, in a 44-39 shootout.
Byrum Brown has thrown for 896 yards through four games as the Auburn starter, completing 82 of 126 passes with six touchdowns and five interceptions. Auburn averages 413.5 yards of total offense compared to Tennessee's 438.
Tennessee's defense, which stole the show as the Vols fell to No. 1 Texas, is fifth in the sec and 30th nationally in total defense — allowing 282.3 yards per contest. They rank first in team sacks in both the SEC and FBS and lead the SEC in team tackles for loss.
The Vols managed just 70 net yards rushing against Texas. Javin Gordon, a bulldozer of a running back for Tennessee, is listed as doubtful for this game. He did not play against Texas.
- UT wins this game if it plays on par with how it did against Texas. If the defense has a similar performance against Auburn to what it did against Texas, the Vols should cruise to a win on Saturday. You would hope for more from the offense, but the bare minimum should be enough to defeat a rebuilding Auburn program.
- Auburn wins this game if UT fails to move the ball. The Vols have to show some semblance of offense, at a bare minimum. Auburn is good enough to win if UT has quick three-and-out drives and loses the field position game, but with a strong defense, even a lackluster offense should be enough to defeat the Tigers.
