DeSean Bishop rushed for a career-high 220 yards and three second-half touchdowns to rally No. 17 Tennessee past Auburn for a 24-14 Southeastern Conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn.
The former walk-on from Knoxville carried 34 times while becoming the first running back for the Volunteers (4-1, 1-1 SEC) to go for 200 yards and three scores since Eric Gray in 2019.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel benched freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon late in the first half after he went 3-for-8 for no yards and one interception. Backup George MacIntyre completed 8 of 10 for 86 yards in the first meeting between the Tigers and Vols in six seasons.
Auburn’s Byrum Brown was 22-for-33 for 159 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He rushed for 107 yards on 19 attempts and scored the first touchdown for the Tigers (3-2, 1-2), who built a 7-3 halftime lead.
In the first matchup on the Volunteers’ campus since 2013, both defenses stepped up early. Over the first six series — three by each side — in nearly 12 minutes of play, Tennessee managed the only first down as the teams combined for eight total yards.
After taking over at the Tigers’ 42 following a short punt, the Volunteers turned to their inside running game and called seven straight running plays. Cooper Ranvier drilled a 36-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the first half to cap the 10-play, 24-yard drive.
Linebacker Xavier Atkins picked off Brandon to set up Auburn at Tennessee’s 19. Brown then turned in a spectacular 7-yard scramble for the team’s first lead by shaking off a tackler in the backfield, stiff-arming another and outrunning the defense to the pylon at the 3:48 mark.
On the second half’s first possession, MacIntyre’s 42-yard strike to Mike Matthews led to Bishop’s score from 25 yards out. Dejuan Lane picked off Brown on the next series and returned it 32 yards into Auburn territory.
On the following play, Bishop broke a tackle and dashed through the Auburn secondary for a 44-yard score that made it 17-7. Brown answered by tossing a 16-yard score to Arlis Boardingham to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 10:57 left.
The home defense stuffed Auburn on fourth and 1 at the Tigers’ 24 with 6:34 to go. The Vols handed the ball to Bishop on the next four snaps and he put the game away with a 5-yard touchdown with 3:30 remaining.
