Tennessee 24-14 Auburn (Oct 3, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Auburn · Tennessee

Auburn3-214

No. 17 Tennessee4-124Final

Sat, Oct 3 · Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. · Crowd 101,915

No. 17 Tennessee beat Auburn 24-14.

We had Tennessee favored. It won.

Next: Auburn beat Georgia 27-24, Sat Oct 17

Next: Tennessee beat Arkansas 24-17, Sat Oct 10

Top comment in the game thread

Pain.....all I know is pain.

Q2 5:01 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Oct 3

How it swung

The turning point: Bishop 44-yd TD run, Tennessee leads 17-7 (Q3, 5:15). Tennessee went from 75% to 93% to win.

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Tennessee a 74% chance, and the closing betting line (Tennessee was a 6-point favorite) put it at 69%.

A tight one: Tennessee bottomed out at 44% and won.

Auburn never had better than a 56% chance.

FinalTennessee 24-14 AuburnTennessee wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

The play that swung it

1Q3 5:15Bishop 44-yd TD run, Tennessee leads 17-7Tennessee 75% → 93% (+18)

The play that swung it

1Q3 5:15Bishop 44-yd TD run, Tennessee leads 17-7Auburn 25% → 7% (−18)

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q2 5:01Tennessee fans demand benching Faizon after his interception by AuburnI kinda want Faizon to go away at this point.r/CFB game threadQuoted at the top of the page.
Q2 3:48Auburn fans celebrate Byrum Brown's touchdown run as Tennessee fans despairHoly hell, Byrum Brownr/CFB game threadTHAT'S WHAT I WANT TO SEE MORE OF BYRUMr/CFB game thread
Q3 8:49A defender got totally bamboozled on the option play.And the CB had pinched up and just stared at the handoffr/CFB game thread
Q4 11:23Brown runs 57 yards, then throws touchdown pass to BoardinghamArlis Boardingham is a hell of a namer/CFB game thread
Q4 8:51A player was hit hard on a pass play.That guy almost lost a leg holyr/CFB game thread
Q4 6:34Auburn fans rip Golesh for tossing backwards on fourth and inches instead of sneakingAh yes toss 5 yards backwards to try and gain 1r/CFB game threadYou have a 230lb 6’5 qb and you don’t sneak it?r/CFB game thread

Tennessee’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Tennessee -6), at 75% for Tennessee (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Tennessee or Auburn flair (1,183 and 1,131); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Tennessee’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Tennessee scored on 4 of its 14 drives; Auburn on 2 of its 13.

Tennessee’s drives are teal, Auburn’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

From Auburn’s side

Auburn’s best moment: Brown 7-yd TD run, Auburn goes ahead 7-3 (Q2 3:48). It lifted Auburn’s win chance by 16 points.

How Auburn fans took it: “Love how the commentators are acting like Auburn could score twice in 40 seconds anyway” r/CFB game thread

“Wow I'm having fun again. Didn't know that was allowed, neat.”

A Tennessee fan

How fans reacted

Quiet

The closing stretch drew the loudest reaction of the night.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was quiet; the crowd was busy.

Two crowds, one game

The words each side’s fans used far more than the other side, from the game thread.

Tennessee fans

heupel“Heupel’s ability to have both great offenses and great defenses but never in the same year needs to be studied”

Auburn fans

screen“Joel Gordon needs to not call a run up the middle on first down and then a screen on second down it’s not working”

Both sets of fans kept coming back to: back, don, look, start.

What it cost

Tennessee’s chance to make the playoff rose from 22% to 25%.

Make the playoff

Auburn · lost3% → ▼2%

Tennessee · won22% → ▲25%

Win the conference

Auburn · lost0% → 0%

Tennessee · won1% → ▲2%

Before the game (October 2, 2026) → after this result, in our model.

Box score

Tennessee 24, Auburn 14

Tennessee covered −6 by 4. The total, 38, stayed under 54.5.

Team totals	Auburn	Tennessee
Total yards	345	323
Passing	22 of 33, 159 yds	11 of 18, 86 yds
Rushing	32 for 186 yds	49 for 237 yds
First downs	17	17
Third down	5 of 14	3 of 14
Fourth down	0 of 1	2 of 2
Turnovers	3	2
Penalties	11 for 94 yds	4 for 30 yds
Time of possession	28:23	31:37

Auburn leaders

Passing Byrum Brown 22 of 33, 159 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing Byrum Brown 19 for 107 yds, 1 TD; Omar Mabson Ii 10 for 62 yds
Receiving Keshaun Singleton 7 for 54 yds; Chas Nimrod 3 for 33 yds

Tennessee leaders

Passing George MacIntyre 8 of 10, 86 yds
Rushing DeSean Bishop 34 for 220 yds, 3 TD; Daune Morris 8 for 32 yds
Receiving Mike Matthews 4 for 57 yds; Dasaahn Brame 2 for 12 yds

No rain through the game

77° at kickoff · no rain recorded

October game-day temperatures at Neyland Stadium

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

Third quarter, 5:15 left5:52 p.m.

Auburn 7, Tennessee 17 · Tennessee 93% to win

no rain · 77°

Bishop 44-yd TD run, Tennessee leads 17-7

Measured at Knoxville Downtown airport, 2.9 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last 4 games

Auburn · 3-1

Rated 71st in our preseason ratings, 56th now, up 15 spots.

3-1 in its last 4, one over ranked or top-40 competition.

W 21-15 vs Vanderbilt #46 of 668

won by 6 as a 10-point favorite

L 39-44 vs FloridaTop 25 #17 of 668

lost by 5 as a 2.5-point underdog

W 43-8 vs Southern Miss #59 of 668

won by 35 as a 32.5-point favorite

W 17-16 vs Baylor #36 of 668

won by 1 as a 6.5-point favorite

Last 4 games

Tennessee · 3-1

Rated 30th in our preseason ratings, 24th now.

3-1 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

L 17-20 vs TexasTop 25 #5 of 668

lost by 3 as a 5.5-point underdog

W 42-9 vs Kennesaw State #153 of 668

won by 33 as a 35.5-point favorite

W 45-24 @ Georgia Tech #84 of 668

won by 21 as a 12.5-point favorite

W 56-9 vs Furman #166 of 668

won by 47 as a 49.5-point favorite

Week by week

Tennessee

Wk 1Wvs Furman56-9
Wk 2Wat Georgia Tech45-24
Wk 3Wvs Kennesaw State42-9
Wk 4Lvs Texas17-20

Auburn

Wk 1Wvs Baylor17-16
Wk 2Wvs Southern Miss43-8
Wk 3Lvs Florida39-44
Wk 4Wvs Vanderbilt21-15

Power rating by week

Tennessee is rated 4.7 points ahead as of week 4. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Auburn’s passing EPA against Tennessee, 78 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Auburn’s passing EPA against Tennessee’s defense
Auburn offense, 17th percentile · Tennessee defense, 95th
Auburn’s EPA/play against Tennessee’s defense
Auburn offense, 34th percentile · Tennessee defense, 96th
Tennessee’s explosive plays against Auburn’s defense
Tennessee offense, 24th percentile · Auburn defense, 76th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

AuburnTennessee

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

Auburn leads the series 28-22-3

53 meetings since 1929 · Auburn won the last meeting

2020Auburn 30-17
2018Tennessee 30-24
2013Auburn 55-23
2009Auburn 26-22
2008Auburn 14-12

Each line is Tennessee’s chance to win through that meeting. Older meetings have no play by play, so no line.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Tennessee fans are feeling it about like the typical fanbase this week (42nd among FBS fanbases), and the other side is no happier.

Tennessee favored by 6 · Total 54.5

How games like this usually go

Tennessee by 6, and it went to form

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 377 games since 2025 with a favorite of 3.5 to 7.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 1.5 points toward Auburn.

The total fell 3 points.

The books’ cut: 4.2%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Warm and dry. Feels like 79° at kickoff.

Auburn at Tennessee · Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 · Neyland Stadium, Knoxville

79°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
86weather score, Mixed
Tiedfor the roughest of the day's 9 kickoff times

At kickoff, Oct. 3, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Later kickoff times scored higher that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 9 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game, ringed, was tied for the roughest of the day's nine kickoff times. At Neyland Stadium that day, a 7:30 pm or 8 pm kickoff would have scored 100, against 86 at 3:30 pm.

The roughest kickoff time is the lowest of the day's times. It can still be Mixed or Comfortable.

11 am: 89, Mixed
noon: 88, Mixed
12:45 pm: 87, Mixed
2 pm: 85, Mixed
3:30 pm: 86, Mixed (this game)
4:15 pm: 91, Comfortable
6 pm: 98, Comfortable
7:30 pm: 100, Ideal
8 pm: 100, Ideal

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Oct. 3, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Tennessee is worth +6.6 points (±4.8) more at home than on the road since 2018 — top third of FBS, 90th percentile.

66% at home, 49% on the road against FBS opponents (35-18 home, 18-19 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +1.6 at home vs. away over 98 games — inside the ±6.7 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 248 miles to get here.

Last meeting in our History pages

Tennessee 30, Auburn 24Oct 13, 2018

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.

Tennessee13th0-1
Auburn7th1-1

Full SEC standings

No. 17 Tennessee beats Auburn 24-14