Among its historic SEC football rivalries, Tennessee has a losing record against four schools. I imagine most Vol fans can go 3-for-3 to start the list – Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Maybe you got the fourth one on the first try, maybe not. It’s the team that’ll be in Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3, attempting to extend its 21st-century domination over the Vols.
Yes, the Auburn Tigers.
This will be the 55th meeting between Tennessee and Auburn. The Tigers have 29 wins, Tennessee 22. There have been three ties.
The series is pretty much on par with Tennessee’s history with both Florida and Georgia (neither of whom the Vols play this year).
In 55 meetings, Florida leads the series 32-23. In 55 meetings, Georgia leads 30-23-2.
Alabama goes way deeper – 108
games. The Tide leads 61-40-7.
Tennessee doesn’t have enough history with Texas A&M, Texas or Oklahoma to matter yet. The Vols are 6-6 all-time against Missouri, a rivalry still developmental at best.
As for each of the other seven SEC members, Tennessee has a clear advantage. That includes 21-10-3 against LSU, a program with four national championships and 12 SEC titles.
But Auburn?
How to account for the Tigers’ historic edge?
Part of it is timing. UT and Auburn met on only six occasions during the Robert Neyland era, when the Vols were smothering almost everyone. Neyland was 4-2 against the Tigers but had his reasons for not wanting to play them.
Post-Neyland, things changed. From the mid-1950s up to the 1992 expansion that brought South Carolina and Arkansas into play, Tennessee-Auburn was an annual late-September showdown.
Over the years, Auburn managed to gain and hold the upper hand, if only slightly.
Tennessee’s 1985 Sports Illustrated-cover upset of the No. 1 Tigers snapped a three-year Vols losing streak. But Auburn won again in ’86 and, after a 20-20 tie in ’87, again in ’88 to make the series 22-16-2.
The Vols needed to change momentum. They did.
In 1989, Tennessee scored a 21-14 win over the No. 4 Tigers. A Reggie Cobb highlight-reel touchdown proved the difference.
Back to Auburn in 1990, a thriller between top-5 teams. Tennessee blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead and settled for 26-26 tie.
But the Vols prevailed again in 1991, sending Johnny Majors out with a W over Pat Dye.
Then Phillip Fulmer stacked three more Ws: the 1997 SEC championship game; a 17-9 win at Auburn in ’98; a 24-0 romp in ’99.
That 5-0-1 streak closed the gap to 21 wins for the Vols to 22 for the Tigers.
A three-year gap ensued, during which, to UT’s chagrin, Big ‘Mo switched sidelines.
Auburn currently rides a 7-1 stretch.
The Tigers in 2003 handed QB Casey Clausen his only loss in 15 true road starts. Auburn beat a good Tennessee team twice in 2004, the latter in the SEC title game, en route to a 13-0 season.
Welcome to the so-called “Decade of Dysfunction.”
A dreary 14-12 loss in 2008 was emblematic of Tennessee’s offensive struggles in the season that cost Fulmer his job.
Auburn beat Lane Kiffin the next year, then routed Butch Jones’ first team 55-23 in 2013.
A Tennessee win at Auburn in 2018 was a rare highlight of the Jeremy Pruitt era. But the Tigers helped send Pruitt packing in the disastrous 2020 season.
Now they’re back in Knoxville for the first time in 13 seasons.
Tennessee isn’t dysfunctional anymore. And it’s high time to swing the momentum once again.
Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a sports column for Shopper News.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Time for Tennessee football to snatch momentum back from Auburn | Opinion
