Tennessee beat No. 2 Auburn 30-24 to capture its first SEC win since November of 2016 and its first win over an SEC West team since 2010.
After a week off, both Tennessee's offense and defense had impressive performances.The Vols tallied 398 total yards of offense, while the defense forced three turnovers, and capitalized off two of them.
Jarrett Guarantano threw for a career-high 328 yards and two touchdowns.
Auburn scored on the opening drive, capping a 14 play, 75-yard drive with a touchdown by Tigers fullback Chandler Cox.
The Vols have not scored an offensive touchdown in the first quarter, and settled for a field goal on their first possession. But, they capitalized off a Bryce Thompson interception in the second quarter. The freshman's pick set up a 42-yd touchdown by sophomore running back Ty Chandler.
Tennessee's defense had two picks in the first half. Jonathon Kongbo also had an interception, but the Vols weren't able to capitalize a second time. The offense followed it up with three lost-yardage plays and a penalty and was forced to punt.
Two plays later, Auburn was back in the end zone. Jarrett Stidham connected with Anthony Schwartz and thanks to a missed tackle and a bad angle from a safety, the track star took off 76 yds for a touchdown.
That was the bad, this is the good. The momentum completely shifted Tennessee's way in the third quarter.
The Vols scored on a 25-yd touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings in the third quarter to take the lead, and kept the momentum going. Senior defensive end Kyle Phillips' sack on Stidham knocked the ball out and freshman defensive back Alontae Taylor recovered the ball in the end zone for a defensive score.
Auburn scored a last-minute touchdown in the fourth quarter to decrease their deficit. The Tigers then attempted the onside kick, but Tennessee came up with the ball to end the game.
Jeremy Pruitt's first SEC win at the helm of the Tennessee program, is perhaps the first signature win of his coaching career.