Things changed quick for Auburn in its 24-14 loss to Tennessee.
The Tigers held Tennessee to three points in the first half, even forcing starting quarterback Faizon Brandon out of the game.
Then, Tennessee got its run game going.
“In the second half, it kind of flipped,” said head coach Alex Golesh. “Couldn't stop the run; they got into 12 (personnel) and we couldn't stop the run.”
Lead running back DeSean Bishop turned in a historic performance for Tennessee. Bishop rushed for 220 yards on 34 carries with three rushing touchdowns. It was the second opposing rusher to have three touchdowns against Auburn — Florida’s Jadan Baugh had a trio of scores two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, tackling issues that have been present over the last couple of weeks showed up in the second half as well.
“It wasn't good in the second half,” Golesh said. “It wasn't good on that (first) drive, and it kind of led as it went between the missed tackles. I felt we were getting pushed up front from getting dug out of gaps. It wasn't good. I still feel like we could be an elite level defense. There's obviously some things that we gotta clean up.”
Tennessee finished the night with 237 yards rushing. Bishop averaged 6.5 yards per carry, with two long touchdown runs of 44 and 25 yards.
“We are as critical of ourselves as there is,” Golesh said. “I'm as critical of myself, our coaches. Some of that is coaching. Some of that we gotta bow up in some critical times.”
Auburn will have a bye week before traveling to face No. 2 Georgia on Oct. 17.
“I just told these guys, man, like I do think we have a bunch of guys that will go fight,” Golesh said. “And by a bunch, I mean this team will go fight. The detail that which we fight with, the the ability to strain in some critical moments, it's not always in sync, and that's where we gotta get our focus to where it is consistently the same all the time, and it certainly doesn't look like that.”
