Auburn spent the week turning up the volume in practice, trying to get ready for exactly the kind of scene it’s about to walk into Saturday in Knoxville.
At the Woltosz Center, the Tigers have been working through a soundtrack built to mimic the noise waiting at Neyland Stadium, where 101,915 fans can make life miserable for a visiting team. Auburn hasn’t played there since 2013, but tight end Arlis Boardingham knows the setting well enough to respect what’s coming.
“It’s one of the loudest places I’ve been, wholeheartedly,” said Boardingham, who scored a touchdown at Tennessee in 2024. “Being able to play in that environment is going to be a challenge but I’m more than confident that we’ll be able to handle the noise well.”
The forecast may add another wrinkle, with rain expected Saturday. Auburn safety Kaleb Harris kept the answer simple.
“It’s football,” Auburn safety Kaleb Harris said. “We play in whatever weather they bring us.”
Coach Alex Golesh said Wednesday the Tigers have been preparing for the conditions, but he wants the attention locked on the work, not the setting.
“Those are things you have to prep for,” Auburn coach Alex Golesh said after Wednesday’s practice. “But you can’t make it about that.
It’s been about us. I think the focus has been really good.
Now we’ve got to go finish our process through the week.”
This will be Auburn’s first road game of the season, and Golesh is bringing a team that already has a win over Vanderbilt last week on Homecoming and a season-opening 17-16 victory over Baylor in Atlanta. He described Saturday as a new kind of test.
“It'll be our first time in a truly hostile environment,” said Golesh, who led Auburn to a 17-16 win over Baylor in Atlanta in the season opener. “But is the focus on that or is the focus on our daily process? Wherever your thoughts go, that's where your focus goes.
“We're going into a really cool environment. That's why you play in this league. That's why you coach in this league, to play in games like this.”
Tennessee enters at 3-1 after opening with three straight wins, including a 45-24 road victory at Georgia Tech, before falling 20-17 at home to top-ranked Texas last week. Freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon has given the Volunteers a clean start through four college games, throwing seven touchdown passes without an interception.
Golesh sees plenty to worry about there.
“The arm talent is real,” Golesh said. “He makes the right read, highly intelligent, gets rid of the ball quick.
He can do big-time damage with his feet. Powerful, strong runner.
It'll be a big challenge for our defense to make sure we're able to contain him and stop what these guys are doing.”
Auburn (3-1, 1-1) is trying to beat Tennessee for the eighth time in the last nine meetings when the teams kick off Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN and the Auburn Sports Network, with Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell and Bret Eddins on the call.
“This will be a really good next step for us as a program,” Golesh said. “It's going to be a really big challenge for us, one that I'm excited about and our kids are excited about.”
In Other News...
Auburns Pass Rush Just Got A Huge Week 5 Opening
Auburns defensive front may have landed an early break heading into Week 5, with Tennessee forced to reshuffle its offensive line after a lower-body injury sidelined Moe for the rest of the 2026 season. The move leaves the Volunteers with work to do up front, and the coaching staff is already planning to shift Sham Umarov to left guard while turning to Donovan Haslam on the right side.
For Auburn, that kind of personnel change matters because the Tigers have been looking for ways to stress protection and create pressure off the edge. Any disruption along Tennessees line can alter how an offense handles twists, stunts and blitz looks, and it gives Auburns pass rush a clearer opening to dictate terms early in the game. [Read more 🡒]
Charles Barkley Sends Auburn Fans A Message They May Not Like
Charles Barkley is still sounding like one of Auburns most recognizable boosters, and on a recent appearance on The Next Round he used that platform to steer the conversation back to the Tigers own house. He backed both the football and basketball coaches, urging fans to be patient and to spend more time appreciating what Auburn is trying to build instead of measuring everything against rival programs.
Barkleys basketball comments came with praise for the progress the program has made, and he also sounded encouraged by the direction of the football team under Alex Golesh. For a fan base that can get restless quickly, the message was clear enough: the bigger picture matters, even when the short-term results can be frustrating. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn May Have The Opening It Needed At Tennessee
Week 5 in 2026 is shaping up as one of those Saturdays where the upset board feels unusually crowded, and Auburn has found itself in the middle of the conversation. The Tigers are among the five predicted underdogs who could flip the script, alongside North Texas, Northwestern, Kentucky and Cal, with the selection rooted in recent team form, player availability and coaching evaluation rather than anything already settled on the field.
For Auburn, the trip to Tennessee stands out because it is the kind of matchup that can turn quickly if the Tigers catch the right break and the Volunteers are not at their best. The forecast is only a projection, of course, but it does suggest Auburn may finally have the opening it has been looking for against a high-profile SEC opponent, which is exactly the sort of possibility that keeps this time of year so interesting. [Read more 🡒]