Defensive Slugfest Sees Auburn Football Fall to Tennessee

On Saturday, the Auburn Tigers fell to the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers, 24-14, dropping the Tigers to 3-2 on the season ahead of their bye week. This was the Tigers’ first true road game under Alex Golesh, who now falls to 1-2 against SEC opponents as the head coach of the Tigers.

Like many Tiger matchups this year, the game got off to quite a slow start on offense, as the group went three-and-out on all four of their first-quarter drives.

Largely due to issues with false starts on the Tigers’ first three drives, the Tigers did not pick up a single first down until around the 10-minute mark in the second quarter, but fumbled the ball away three plays later, resulting in a Tennessee field goal.

The longest first-half drive for the Tigers was a four-play, 24-yard set that ended in the aforementioned fumble, killing the momentum the Tigers had been building throughout the drive. However, the Tigers’ defense stepped up in a big way in the first half; although they allowed 128 total yards, they also sacked Faizon Brandon three times and forced two turnovers, holding the Vols to just three first-half points.

The highlight plays of the first half were, undoubtedly, Cody Sigler’s punchout in the second quarter, which the Tigers’ offense was unable to do anything with, alongside Xavier Atkins’ interception deep in Tennessee territory, which Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown cashed in on, scoring on a highly impressive eight-yard rush four plays later.

The third quarter wasn’t much better for the Tigers’ offense, managing just 83 total yards, though the group was able to pick up six first downs over the course of the quarter. However, a costly pair of mistakes cost the Tigers multiple potential scores, as Brown overthrew a ball straight into the hands of a Tennessee safety, ending one potential scoring drive, while being sacked to knock the Tigers out of field goal range on another.

The defense struggled to contain Tennessee running back DeSean Bishop early in the second half, as he broke off a 25-yard touchdown to give the Vols back the lead before breaking off a 44-yard touchdown on the Vols’ very next play from scrimmage.

After the Tigers’ defense forced a punt, the Tigers’ offense sprang to life as Brown got loose on a quarterback keeper that went for 57 yards, which he followed up with a quick pass to tight end Arlis Boardingham to make the score 17-14 in favor of the Vols.

The Tigers had a strong drive building, but a strong Vol stop on third down left the Tigers with fourth and inches inside their own 25-yard line, where they elected to attempt an outside rush that the Vols were able to stop, resulting in yet another Volunteer rushing touchdown.

The Tigers built a drive late in the fourth quarter, but a tipped ball interception ultimately iced the game.

At game’s end, Byrum Brown had totaled 159 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions through the air, while rushing for a team-high 107 yards and one touchdown, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. His leading receiver, Keshaun Singleton, hauled in seven passes for 54 yards.

Up next for the Tigers is a bye week, though they’ll not be able to take much time off as the Georgia game, which is scheduled for the following week, is looming large. The Bulldogs have looked like a juggernaut so far this season, so the Tigers will need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to take down Kirby Smart’s team on their home turf.

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