AUBURN, Ala. – The thought of taking a knee never crossed Smoke Monday's mind.
"Not once," Monday said. "Once the ball was in my hands I knew I was going to the end zone."
With Auburn leading 13-10 late in the third quarter, Monday intercepted Tennessee's Jarrett Guarantano in the end zone and raced 100 yards down the Auburn sideline for a touchdown Saturday, the pivotal play in the Tigers' 30-17 victory vs. Tennessee.
"That just really changed the whole dynamics of the game," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "It gave us some breathing room and some confidence."
With time to throw, Guarantano locked in on a receiver covered by Roger McCreary. Blitzing linebacker Owen Pappoe fought off two blocks to pressure the Volunteers' quarterback, potentially impacting the accuracy of his pass.
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"I came up the middle," Pappoe said. "The center was holding on to me a little bit so that kind of delayed it or I could have had a sack, but I still got a good pressure on it and Smoke made a huge play.
"We needed that. The game was kind of close and that shifted a lot of the momentum toward us. We took off from there."
"I tilted one way and came back late," Monday said. "It was right there."
A squadron of teammates accompanied Monday on his return, including fellow safety Jamien Sherwood.
"When I saw him with the ball in his hands, the first thing was get to the end zone," Sherwood said. "He started running. I caught up to him, tried to throw a block for him and I got in the way. I almost knocked [Monday] over, thank God I didn't. He made a great play and I just couldn't be happier for him."
It was Monday's second career pick six. He also returned an interception for a 29-yard touchdown in Auburn's win in the 2019 Iron Bowl. Monday's 100-yard interception return was Auburn's longest since Zakoby McClain's 100-yard pick six vs. Alabama last season.
"Once we got that big stop, I knew the offense was going to be rolling," Monday said. "That's one thing I can say about our team. We pick each other up.
"We're a fast defense. We don't really get that many opportunities to show people what we have with the ball in our hands, so when we do, we show it."
The defensive score came in the middle of Auburn's run of 27 unanswered points, giving the Tigers a 20-10 lead with 2:21 to play in the third quarter.
"We just make sure we keep our head on a swivel because they're not just going to let us run," Monday said. "Coach Steele tells us every week, 'We need a touchdown on defense,' and everybody bought into it. When the opportunity came everybody seized it.
"I knew my guys were fighting that whole drive. I knew I had to make a play so that's what I did. We've always been a defense that's physical and takes the ball away. We take pride in taking the ball away and helping our offense any way we can."
Monday and his defensive teammates will try to reprise their pick six productivity next Saturday when Auburn travels to Tuscaloosa for the 2020 Iron Bowl.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer