Series

Alabama has been one of the best offenses in the country for five games. Then Georgia happened. Russell, injuries, and a loud Neyland are the variables that decide if this one stays tight or gets away.

The Game of Inches this week is simple. Get to Keelon Russell or watch this one get away early. Xavier Gilliam and a defense that leads the country in sacks have to make the pocket dirty all afternoon.

Year six. A bad team. A win that still left more questions than answers.

The offense gets a pulse. The defense keeps the lid on. Arkansas does not have an answer for 12 personnel unless Tennessee hands them the ball.

Arkansas can throw it to one guy, and the defensive front is the only unit that has held up against a real schedule. They cannot run it, and they cannot set an edge.

Arkansas is a 13.5 point dog for a reason. The danger is a road game in a building Tennessee has not won in since 2001, and a last meeting that came down to a field goal.

Faizon Brandon was cooked. George MacIntyre came in, DeSean Bishop took over, and Tennessee got off the mat. The SEC win is all that matters.

I do not trust this offensive line. I do trust the defense to keep Auburn from ever taking the game. Tennessee wins an ugly one.

Golesh is back in Neyland with the quarterback he built this thing around. The rest of Auburn is a middle of the SEC roster that still finds ways to stay in games.

Texas gave the offensive line a shield. Furman and Kennesaw were beat at birth. Auburn is the first opponent that tells the real story.