DeSean Bishop brought some extra motivation into Tennessee football'smatchup with Auburn and coach Alex Golesh.
The senior running back said Golesh, who worked as the Vols offensive coordinator from 2021-23, was one of the reasons why he didn't earn a scholarship coming out of Karns High School in 2023.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm going to keep it real, this game was very personal from just the mindset of Golesh," Bishop said after the No. 17 Vols won 24-14 at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3. "He was one of the reasons I was a walk on at the University of Tennessee. So the mindset of that was just throughout the whole game, you know, that every time I touched the ball, like, they got feel me. They got feel what they were missing."
Golesh and the Tigers
couldn't help but feel the impact of Bishop, who rushed for new career-highs of 220 yards and three touchdowns on 34 attempts and was the difference for theNo. 17 Vols (4-1, 1-1 SEC).
It took Bishop, a two-time Mr. Football winner, two years to earn a scholarship. He could have accepted other offers from different schools but wanted to play college football for his hometown school.
After not playing as a freshman and missing three games due to injuries as a sophomore, Bishop was able to work his way up the depth chart and assume a starting role.
Bishop was an All-SEC selection last season with 1,076 rushing yards and 16 touchdown. Nothing has changed this season, but Bishop and the offense started slowly against Auburn. By halftime, they had managed to score only three points while committing a pair of turnovers. UT coach Josh Heupel made a quarterback change, subbing in backup George MacIntyre for Faizon Brandon in the second quarter.
It was Bishop's patient, powerful running that eventually allowed the Vols to break the game's sluggish pace and pull away from the Tigers (3-2, 1-2) in the second half.
He had just 55 yards on 11 carries, with one 15-yard touchdown run called back because of a penalty, through the first two quarters. In the third quarter, he broke loose for touchdown runs of 25 and 44 yards on back-to-back plays that put UT ahead for good.
"I kind of just allowed the game to come to me when it's presented to me. I believe we didn't run the ball as well as we wanted to last week. That was a priority for this week. And it was really hot, so not getting away from it was our mindset," Bishop said. "I'm just staying patient back there, waiting for my number to be called, waiting for big plays to be made, offensive line clearing up gaps and what not. It was only a matter of time before we started chipping away on them in the run game."
While he was running roughshod over the Tigers' defense, Bishop felt like he was back in high school, carrying the offense as far as he could go while battling for respect on the recruiting trail.
"Definitely a lot more carries than my previous times but it felt like those days back at Karns," Bishop said. "A lot of doing what I can to put my team in the best place to succeed."
Stephen Thompson covers Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Email him at stephen.thompson@knoxnews.com and follow him on X @stephenethom.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why DeSean Bishop said Tennessee football win vs Auburn, Alex Golesh was 'personal'
