Tennessee football at Auburn: 5 Vols to watch for vs. Tigers

Tennessee football returns from its bye week to face the Auburn Tigers Saturday. Here are five Volunteers to watch for in the game.

After a 2-3 start and in the midst of a brutal schedule coming back from a bye week, Tennessee football may have hit the lottery with a chance to turn things around. The Vols are facing a reeling Auburn Tigers team that does not look like the same program under Gus Malzahn.

Once again, that team is reeling. The only problem? Rocky Top could not be much lower than where it has sunk to in the first five games of the Jeremy Pruitt era. No wins yet against an FBS team that has actually won a game, and losing all three legitimate games by 26 points apiece is a hideous look.

But hitting the middle of the season, Tennessee football now needs to hope it did what Butch Jones could never do: actually improved during its bye week. We’re about to find out, and specific players will have to help prove this.

As the Vols get set to face the Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium for a noon E.T. Saturday kickoff game, they will need a mix of veteran talent and players match-up advantages to show up. This is an Auburn team that has shown glaring weaknesses, and Jeremy Pruitt has plenty of experience going up against Malzahn.

In fact, Malzahn is the one coach he faced all five years as a defensive coordinator. Add in his years as an assistant with the Alabama Crimson Tide before becoming a coordinator, and the Auburn Tigers are the one team he’s faced ever since he joined the college ranks.

So Pruitt is familiar with the program, and coming off a bye week, he should know what he needed to work out to get the Vols back to form. With that, they need to hope the right players step up Saturday. But who are they. Let’s find out here. These are the five Tennessee football players to watch for when UT visits the Auburn Tigers.