AU-UT: Monday's pick means Saturday win for the Tigers

By TIM GAYLE

AUBURN - Auburn was clinging to a three-point lead, needing a spark as Tennessee was driving toward the lead.

The throw from Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, hit as he threw toward the end zone, wound up in Smoke Monday’s hands instead and the Auburn defender ran 100 yards with the interception to propel Auburn to a 30-17 win over Tennessee at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday night.

“I knew he was one of those quarterbacks who likes to stare his receivers down,” Monday said. “I tilted one way – he wasn’t doing a good job of looking us off tonight – so I tilted one way and came back late and it was right there. (Defensively coordinator) Coach (Kevin) Steele tells us every week, ‘We need a touchdown on defense, we need a touchdown on defense’ and everybody bought into it. When the opportunity came, everybody seized it. Once the ball was in my hands, I knew I was going to the end zone.”

The play epitomized the changing fortunes of the two teams: Auburn, mired in mediocre play for much of the season and again in the first quarter of Saturday’s game, found a way to get it done while Tennessee, playing in a similar fashion but never reaping the rewards, lost for the fifth consecutive time.

“Probably the key play in the game was our 100-yard interception return,” Malzahn said. “That just really changed the whole dynamics of the game. We didn’t play our best, we made some mistakes, but our guys fought and that’s the sign of a good team.”

The Tigers trailed 10-0 and were certainly tested after losing starting running back Tank Bigsby and both offensive tackles, Alec Jackson and Brodarious Hamm, to injuries. 

“This team has battled, they’ve fought every game,” Malzahn said. “It’s such an unusual season with the different ups and downs, the challenges, playing a 10-game SEC schedule, just the mental stuff that goes with that. Not playing in 21 days is extremely challenging and we knew it would be. But our guys showed a lot of fight, they showed a lot of character. The first quarter was ugly on our end. We were sleepwalking a little bit, but they flipped the switch and the last three quarters they played good Auburn football.”

“Good Auburn football,” as it has been for much of the season, is surviving until the final play and coming out with a win. Tennessee, which clearly played a better brand of football at times and converted 9 of 15 third-down opportunities, saw its chances fizzle in the third quarter as Guarantano was hit by Auburn linebacker Owen Pappoe as he threw the ball, resulting in Monday’s return for a touchdown. The Vols’ next possession ended with a missed field goal and DJ Williams capped Auburn’s next possession with a touchdown run, turning a game up for grabs into a 27-10 deficit.

“Offensively, we moved the ball really well, really in both halves,” Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said. “We’ve got to come away with touchdowns when we get down there. We moved the ball pretty well from 30 to 30. We didn’t come away with points three times. That was a big part of the game, that and getting off the field on third down defensively.”

Eric Gray rushed for 173 yards on 22 carries, ripping through the Auburn defense for huge gains in the middle of the field but never when it counted near the Auburn goal line.

“Looking at the stat sheet, it was a pretty good game,” Gray said. “But you always want to win, you always want to get the ‘dub.’ We’re all a team, we all play together. I felt like we did play together tonight and we took a big step forward, just trying to turn it on after halftime and playing for 60 minutes. We’ve just got to finish the game.”

Were it not for Monday’s interception return, Malzahn might have faced some of the same questions he encountered two years ago when a struggling Tennessee team came to Jordan-Hare and came away with a win. 

“They’ve got some big offensive linemen,” Malzahn said. “They’re very talented. They were lining up, getting in ‘heavy’ and running right at us. When we got that lead, it kind of changed the dynamics of the game.”

Instead, it was Pruitt who was facing a barrage of questions about job security, the plays called by his offensive coordinator and the repeated decision to start Guarantano after heralded freshman Harrison Bailey came off the bench and completed 7 of 10 passes for 86 yards.

“I think you have to evaluate everybody in your program,” Pruitt said. “Our goal is to win every game and every week we play the guys who give us the best opportunity.”

When asked if Guarantano gave him that opportunity, Pruitt snapped back, “Absolutely. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t play him. Guys, he didn’t miss two field goals, he didn’t blow a coverage. Did he make a mistake? He made a mistake, absolutely. I made mistakes in the game, OK? The bottom line is we all have to execute a little bit better.”

Auburn (5-2) now travels to Tuscaloosa to play the Iron Bowl, while Tennessee (2-5) travels to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.