Auburn’s SEC win on Saturday bought some breathing room, but the road ahead turns far less forgiving with Tennessee next on the schedule. This will be the Tigers’ first true road game of the season, and unlike the opener in Atlanta, there won’t be a crowd tilted in Auburn’s favor.
Tennessee enters at 3-1 and ranked No. 17, and the Vols bring a few wrinkles that make this matchup worth watching closely.
One possible angle is the emotional bounce factor. Tennessee is coming off a 20-17 loss to Texas in a game that had all the juice - ESPN’s College Gameday was there, and the Vols had a shot to steal it with a Hail Mary at the end.
It was their first loss of the season, and it came in a game that clearly meant a lot to everyone involved. Auburn, by comparison, may not stir the same level of emotion this week.
That doesn’t mean Tennessee will be flat. It just means the Vols have to reset quickly after a game that left a mark. And with college players, that kind of letdown can matter.
Saturday also brings a reunion for Auburn coach Alex Golesh. It will be his first trip back to Knoxville as a head coach, and the storyline is obvious: Golesh spent two seasons as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator under Josh Heupel, helping guide the Vols to their best season in recent memory in 2022.
Now the two face each other as head coaches for the first time. Which side benefits more from all that shared history won’t be known until kickoff.
Golesh isn’t the only Auburn coach with ties to Tennessee and Heupel. Safeties coach Tim Banks, wide receivers coach Kodi Burns, offensive line coach Tyler Hudanick and special teams coordinator Jacob Bronowski were all on that staff in Knoxville with Golesh and Heupel. Tight ends coach Larry Scott also spent two years at Tennessee before that group arrived, from 2016-2017.
Between those connections and the support staff around them, Auburn may not see another opponent this season that knows its staff better than Tennessee does.
The quarterback matchup adds another layer. After Auburn’s defense handled Vanderbilt freshman Jared Curtis on Saturday, it now gets another true freshman with plenty of talent: Tennessee’s Faizon Brandon. He’ll be making just his fifth college start, but 247Sports ranked him No. 3 overall in the country coming out of high school.
Brandon has flashed big-time ability, but he’s also taken the kind of hits young quarterbacks usually do. Against Texas, he was sacked 10 times and averaged just 8.5 yards per completion, part of a Tennessee offense that managed only 2.9 yards per play.
At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Brandon gives Tennessee a dual-threat challenge similar to what Auburn saw from Curtis. If the Tigers want to have a chance, they’ll need another defensive effort like the one they delivered against Vanderbilt.
In Other News...
Former Auburn Captain Rips Shane Beamer Over SEC Discipline Drama
South Carolinas handling of Dylan Stewarts outburst against Alabama has become a bigger talking point than the game itself, and former Auburn captain Chandler Wooten has jumped right into the middle of it. After the EDGE was suspended indefinitely by Shane Beamer, Wooten publicly said the punishment did not go far enough, adding another layer to a situation that already put the Gamecocks under an uncomfortable spotlight.
It was the kind of incident that can linger long after the final whistle, especially when it involves on-field punches, an argument with coaches and a head coach trying to manage the fallout in public. For Auburn fans, Wootens criticism also lands with some weight because he knows the SEC landscape well, and his comments only deepen the sense that South Carolina is dealing with more than a simple discipline issue. [Read more 🡒]
Bo Nix Delivered In Prime Time When Denver Needed Him Most
Bo Nix has already given Denver a signature moment this season, and he did it under the lights when the Broncos needed it most. In Sunday nights 30-26 win over the Rams, the former Auburn quarterback threw two touchdown passes and then finished the job himself with a game-winning sneak in the closing seconds, capping a comeback that had the stadium leaning on every snap.
Nix talked afterward about the comeback and the final drive, the kind of postgame reflection that usually follows a young quarterbacks first true late-game test. Denver gets a short turn of the page now, with the 49ers up next, but this was the sort of prime-time finish that can change how a team and a quarterback carry themselves the rest of the way. [Read more 🡒]
Auburns Biggest Defensive Problem Could Get Exposed Against Tennessee
Missed tackles have become a recurring concern for Auburns defense this season, and the problem showed up again in a big way with 18 against Florida and 12 against Vanderbilt. Coach Golesh has already pointed to perimeter tackling as a priority, knowing that cleanup work there is often what keeps routine gains from turning into the kind of explosive plays that flip a game.
Tennessee brings a challenge that could put that issue right back under the microscope. Auburn is preparing for a quarterback with a similar style of play, which means the Tigers will need a sharper, more disciplined effort on the edge if they want to keep the Vols from turning space into damage. [Read more 🡒]