Tennessee football up two spots in SEC Power Rankings after Week 5 of 2020
![Tennessee and Missouri players shake hands midfield following a SEC conference football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Missouri Tigers held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, October 3, 2020.Kns Ut Football Missouri Bp Tennessee and Missouri players shake hands midfield following a SEC conference football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Missouri Tigers held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, October 3, 2020.Kns Ut Football Missouri Bp](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/94bf04cd8166bb60812e82518fa90d5925e5f643d981e3db88499ec363f4d253.jpg)
. 1-1. Previous: . Tigers . 8. team. 842
Lost to Georgia Bulldogs 27-6
Just like we predicted, the Auburn Tigers’ offense has taken a dramatic step back while returning its quarterback from a year ago who beat the Alabama Crimson Tide. That happened with Nick Marshall from 2013 to 2014, Jarrett Stidham from 2017 to 2018 and now Bo Nix. Gus Malzahn’s program has a bad habit of making that happen.
Auburn didn’t look like it belonged on the field with UGA at all over the weekend. It could never move the ball, and now, it’s ugly win over the Kentucky Wildcats doesn’t even look that impressive anymore given what the Ole Miss Rebels just did to UK. Simply put, this team could be a lot worse than its 1-1 record even indicates. As such, they are in the bottom half of our SEC Power Rankings.
Nobody took a harder loss than Auburn offensive coordinator Chad Morris, whose former team accomplished something he never did there over the weekend, which we’ll get to, and who is overseeing a dramatic reduction in productivity with the unit he took over coaching this year. That looks bad in every way possible.
If there’s any good news, though, it gets easier first. Up next are Morris’ old team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, and then the South Carolina Gamecocks and Ole Miss. However, they could be deceptively 4-1 midway through the year, and they certainly don’t look to be as tough an opponent for Tennessee football as they once did. This team has to prove its worth.