Auburn will make its first visit to Neyland Stadium in 13 years on Oct. 3. It has been so long that many Tennessee football fans might have forgotten what a problem the Tigers have been.
When you think of UT’s nemeses, three SEC programs quickly come to mind: Georgia, Alabama and Florida. They were all regular visitors to Neyland once the conference went to divisional play in 1992.
Before Tennessee went East and Auburn was assigned to the West, the Tigers and Vols played each other every year from 1956 through 1991.
Since the series became an irregular event, Auburn has joined Tennessee's list of nemeses.
The Tigers have won seven of the past eight games in the series. Their 2013 victory provided one of the most glaring examples of how far Tennessee
football had sunk during its infamous coaching carousel from 2008 through 2020.
That was Year 1 of the Butch Jones era. Auburn won with such ease, some UT fans probably thought “Maybe, the Derek Dooley era wasn’t as bad as we thought.”
Auburn’s 55-23 victory was accomplished with as little exertion as you will ever see in a 32-point victory. Remember Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall strolling into the end zone?
Marshall rushed for 164 yards in the first half and 214 yards on 14 carries for the game. The Tigers threw only seven passes while totaling 444 yards rushing.
“It’s a pretty good feeling when you can run the ball at will,” first-year Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said at the time.
Auburn scored three times in one 30-second stretch. It scored on a kickoff return and a punt return. It was so dominant that Jones was caught without a catchphrase on his tongue.
“Obviously, disappointing in a lot of ways,” was the best he could do.
Sorry, if I overdid the reminiscing, but that game stuck with me, even though it wasn’t the worst loss of Jones’ five seasons.
Tennessee football has come a long way since then. So has Auburn football, though in the wrong direction. The Tigers came ever-so-close to winning the national championship in 2013. Now, they’re on their fourth coach (Alex Golesh) in the past seven seasons.
Conversely, Tennessee has changed its losing ways and become a model of consistency under Josh Heupel, who has yet to have a losing record in his six seasons with the Vols. He also has ended Tennessee’s lengthy losing streak to Alabama, and against Florida in The Swamp.
The oddsmakers believe he’s about to change the course of the Auburn series as well. The Vols are favored by 7.5 points.
Auburn is making headway under Golesh with three victories in its first four games, including a 21-15 SEC win over Vanderbilt on Sept. 26. But its schedule is daunting.
Tennessee is the first of four consecutive nationally ranked Auburn opponents. Six of the Tigers’ last eight opponents are currently ranked in the top 25.
One thing hasn’t changed about Auburn since it almost ran the Vols out of their own stadium. It has hitched its offense to another running quarterback, USF transfer Byrum Brown, who has rushed for 237 yards on 62 carries.
But he’s averaging only 3.8 yards per carry – significantly less than Marshall’s 15.3-yard average on Auburn’s last game at Neyland.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football needs to change its recent history against Auburn | Adams
