AUBURN, Ala. – Anthony Schwartz flashed his world-class speed on the Tigers' longest play of the season but Tennessee defeated No. 21 Auburn 30-24 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"Very tough loss, very disappointing," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "I really felt like we would come out and play our best game. We got off to a good start, things were going good. Our kids fought to the end. I'm proud of our kids' fight. We give Tennessee credit and congratulate them."
Auburn started fast, driving 75 yards, mostly on the ground, on the game's opening possession with Chandler Cox's 1-yard touchdown putting the Tigers up 7-0.
The Tigers were 3-for-3 on third down on the drive, with Jatarviious Whitlow moving the chains each time. After Schwartz gained 17 yards to Tenessee's 3, Cox scored his second career rushing touchdown two plays later.
After Tennessee answered with a field goal, Auburn responded with a 20-yard Anders Carlson field goal to lead 10-3 after the first quarter.
The Volunteers tied it at 10 on a 42-yard yard touchdown pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Ty Chandler early in the second quarter. Guarantano completed 21 of 32 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns.
After Auburn's defense forced a three-and-out, Jarrett Stidham found Schwartz on an out route. The freshman track star broke a tackle then raced down the Auburn sideline for a 76-yard score to give a 17-10 lead with 3:26 left in the first half.
After the dash by "Flash," Tennessee kicked a field goal, trimming Auburn's lead to 17-13 at the half.
Tennessee forced three Auburn turnovers, hit several long pass plays, and outscored the Tigers 17-7 in the second half.
Late in the third quarter, the Volunteers took a 20-17 lead on a 25-yard pass to Jauan Jennings, then scored again 51 seconds to take a 10-point lead on Alontae Taylor's fumble return.
Seth Williams caught a 14-yard touchdown pass with 37 second left to make it 30-24, but Tennessee recovered the onside kick to secure the win. Williams led Auburn with 85 receiving yards on five catches.
Stidham was 28-for-45 for 322 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
"I've got to do a better job, got to hold onto the ball, not turn it over," Stidham said. "It's not fun losing like this, but like I've said, our guys, they're hungry to get better every week. I know, collectively as a team, we're going to stick together. We're going to block out all the outside noise, and we're just going to continue to grind for each other like we have all along."
Marlon Davidson blocked a field goal for the second straight week. Auburn had three sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Deshaun Davis led Auburn with 10 tackles, including a TFL.
Auburn (4-3, 1-3) plays at Ole Miss next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.
"We're going to have to stick together in that locker room," Malzahn said. "We're going to have to fix it. That's my job. We've got to get better. We've got to rally, we've got to finish this thing the right way."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Auburn vs. Tennessee postgame notes
- Captains: Deshaun Davis, Ryan Davis, Jarrett Stidham
- Coin Toss: Tennessee wins the toss and defers. Auburn will receive
- Eagle Flight: Spirit from flagpole
- Attendance: 84,589
TEAM NOTES
- First-time starters for Auburn: Chandler Wooten
- Auburn scored first for the 22nd time in its last 25 games and the sixth time this season
- Auburn has scored in 74 consecutive games, tied for the second-longest streak in school history (also 2003-08)
- The Tigers held Tennessee to 68 rushing yards, the third time this season for Auburn to hold an opponent under 100 on the ground.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE
- Anthony Schwartz' 76-yard touchdown reception from Jarrett Stidham was Auburn's longest play of the season. It was Schwartz' second TD reception and Stidham's sixth TD pass of the season and 24th of his Auburn career
- Chandler Cox scores his second rushing touchdown of the season and of his career
- Malik Miller's 17-yard rush in the first quarter was the longest of his career
- JaTarvious Whitlow is now 12th all-time among Auburn freshman rushers with 456 yards this season; today he has passed Rusty Williams (439 in 1996), Mario Fannin (448 in 2007) and Tre Smith (454 in 2002)
- Ryan Davis is now third among Auburn career receiving leaders with 144 career receptions, passing Terry Beasley (141 from 1969-71) today. Davis ranks 18th in Auburn career receiving yardage (1,318), passing Ben Obomanu (1,313 yards from 2002-05)
- Jarrett Stidham to Ryan Davis is the second most productive pass tandem in Auburn history, with 120 completions; the Auburn record is 140 completions by Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley (1969-71)
- Stidham recorded his fourth 200-yard passing game of the season and the 14th of his Auburn career; it was also the fourth 300-yard passing game of his career and first of the season
- Seth Williams' five receptions and 85 receiving yards were both career-highs; he also had his second receiving TD of the season
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE
- Javaris Davis has a career high with eight tackles
- Deshaun Davis finished with 10 tackles, giving him 213 for his career and moving him into a tie for 13th at Auburn (since 2000), passing Jonathon Mincy (212 from 2011-14) and tying Rob Pate (213 from 1997-2000)
- Nick Coe recorded his second sack of the season
- Montavious Atkinson and T.D. Moultry were in on their first sacks of the year
- Dontavius Russell was credited with a half-sack; he now has 6.0 for his career
- Big Kat Bryant now has 4.5 career sacks after being credited with a half-sack
INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS
- Auburn holds the SEC record for consecutive PAT with 247, the longest current streak in the nation. Anders Carlson is now 19-19 on PAT for his career.
- Marlon Davidson records his second blocked field goal attempt of the season (also Mississippi State); he's the first Auburn player to block FG attempts in back-to-back games since Angelo Blackson in 2012