Tennessee Football's Offense May Be at a Disadvantage Against Auburn

The Tennessee Volunteers have a ton of questions that need to be answered following the Tennessee vs. Texas game, in which they were defeated by the Longhorns by a score of 20-17.

One of the biggest disadvantages that they had against the Longhorns on Saturday was the play that was coming from the offensive line. In fact, the Vols were beaten off the line plenty, even helping the Longhorns reach a 10-sack day. Not only was this the case, but the Vols also gave up a program-record amount of sacks against Colin Simmons, who finished the game with 5.5 sacks on the day.

While the Vols will look to defeat the Auburn Tigers and get back on track, they have a challenge that they must defeat within themselves. On Wednesday night, news broke that the Vols' star offensive lineman, Wendell Moe Jr. is out for the season with an injury that he suffered during the game against the Texas Longhorns. This is a massive blow and already raises a massive issue for the Vols moving forward.

Sham Umarov and Wendell Moe's Injuries Could Cause Big Problems for Tennessee vs. Auburn

Tennessee offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr. (75) before the game between Tennessee and Kennesaw State at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., Sept. 19, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

However, the Vols may also play without Sham Umarov, who is now on the injury report and is listed as questionable ahead of the game. Umarov is one of the better offensive guards that the Vols have and is usually a starter for the Vols at right guard, which means that the Vols could be without their two starters at guard against the Auburn Tigers, who have a solid D.J. Durkin defense, which is, of course, accompanied by former Tennessee defensive coordinator, Tim Banks.

The only option that seems reasonable for the Vols is having Jesse Perry slide in to help at guard if Umarov misses the game. Of course, this appears to be a game-time decision for the Vols, but this would put the Vols in an awkward spot. If this were to be the case, I would project the starting lineup to look like this.

Left Tackle: David Sanders Jr.
Left Guard: Donovan Haslam
Center: Sam Pendleton
Right Guard: Jesse Perry
Right Tackle: Ory Williams

Tennessee would have very little room to work with and would have to hope for a healthy game against the Auburn Tigers.

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