Tennessee football: Vols-Tigers by the numbers, career day for Guarantano

The 2018 Tennessee football season got their first SEC win of the season against Auburn. Here is how the Tennessee Volunteers vs. Auburn Tigers broke down by the numbers.

Oh the joy in Knoxville right now. The Tennessee faithful finally saw their beloved Volunteers get an SEC win. It’s has been far too long, 2016 in fact, but now the drought is over.

Coming into the season, everyone though October was going to be a rough month for the Vols. Call me crazy, but Tennessee could actually finish the month 2-1 and take a lot of momentum into November.

Here is a look at how the game broke down by the numbers.

328- passing yards for Vols Jarrett Guarantano. The second-year quarterback threw for a career-high on 21-of-32 with two touchdowns and none interceptions. He only threw for six more yards than Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham. However, Guarantano clearly was the better quarterback on the field.

21- touches for running back Ty Chandler. We’ve been saying it, you’ve been saying it but running back Ty Chandler needs at least 20 touches a game, and he proved why against Auburn.

Chandler finished the game with 50 yards rushing and 62 yards receiving with one touchdown.

11- game SEC losing streak snapped with the win. Finally, the Vols have won a conference game, and it came against a top-20 defense.

Before the Auburn win, you have to go back to 2016 when Tennessee beat the Missouri Tigers 63-37.

10.3- yards per pass from Jarrett Guarantano. We can’t say enough good things about Guarantano and the passing attack. Tyson Helton actually opened up the playbook and allowed Guarantano to show off his arm strength.

9- total tackles from senior defensive linemen Kyle Phillips. He has been one of the leaders on the defense all season long, and he finally came through with a huge game. Don’t look now but the defense is starting to cause some havoc.

5- receptions for Jauan Jennings. It’s about [explict] time. Everyone in America knows Jauan Jennings is a difference maker; he just needs the ball.

Jennings accounted for 71 yards with one touchdown. Without selling him short, he was seen all game long throwing out blocks that could clear the whole field.

3- turnovers forced by the Vols defense. This is starting to become a trend. Coming into the game, Jeremy Pruitt had his Tennessee defense ranked inside the top-30 nationally.

Stidham’s throws were great, in fact, they were horrible, but credit goes to Tennessee for applying the pressure.

1.9- yards rushing for the Vols on 36 rushing attempts. The run game was basically nonexistent. That could be because every single first down call is a dive right up the middle, usually resulting for no gain.

2- games Josh Palmer has lead the Vols in receiving. Palmer led the teams with 84 receiving yards on three receptions. He also led the team with 64 receiving yards against UTEP.

0- interceptions thrown by Jarrett Guarantano. Yet, another game where Guarantano plays within the offense and doesn’t turn the ball over.

Guarantano has taken snaps in 15 games at Tennessee with 12 of them being turnover free.

It doesn’t get easier from here. The Vols host the Alabama Crimson Tide next Saturday in Neyland Stadium. I don’t see the Vols winning that game, but I have a funny feeling they won’t get blown out either.