There's no one more popular in Knoxville right now than senior running back DeSean Bishop. Bishop exploded for a career-high day, carrying the ball 34 times for 220 yards and three touchdowns in the close 24-14 win over Auburn at Neyland Stadium. As it turns out, Bishop's motivation to have a monster showing wasn't limited to just bouncing back from what we saw against Texas.
Nope, Bishop knew that former Tennessee offensive coordinator Alex Golesh was going to be on the opposite sideline, and he wanted to make the Auburn head man PAY for overlooking him as a high school recruit. Wait, what?
That's right, Bishop, who came up huge with Faizon Brandon eventually benched, revealed shortly after the final whistle that he took it quite personally that Golesh didn't offer him a scholarship when he was a high school prospect. Bishop ended up waking on with the Vols, but was put on scholly ahead of the 2025 season. Golesh was long gone by then, but Bishop reminded him of his game in the biggest and best way possible in Week 5.
Vols RB DeSean Bishop: I can't lie, this game was personal for me. (Alex) Golesh was a big reason I was a walk-on. I wanted them to feel what they were missing.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 3, 2026
DeSean Bishop made Alex Golesh pay for not offering him a scholarship at Tennessee
"I can't lie, this game was personal for me," a fired up Bishop said following the Tennessee win. "Golesh was a big reason I was a walk-on. I wanted them to feel what they were missing."
Take that, Alex!
Golesh of course isn't going to worry about Bishop throwing some shade his way, but can you blame the veteran power RB for playing with an extra chip on his shoulder? Bishop was a stud for Karns High right in Knoxville as a member of the 2023 class. Despite having offers to play elsewhere, he went the hard route and signed with the Vols as a preferred walk-on.
His hard work and dedication paid off with him eventually getting a full ride from the SEC powerhouse, but Golesh was long gone by the time Josh Heipel made that happen for Bishop. Still, Bishop is so easy to root for knowing that he was a former walk-on, especially with him now looking like one of the best running backs in the conference.
If only Golesh had a bit of a time machine, maybe he would have made things right with him. Instead, he and Auburn got a close-up look at just how deadly Bishop can be with the ball in his hands. For Bishop to post 220 rushing yards and three scores was just unreal. His performance was only made better by running the ball with so much force.
It turns out Golesh giving him a bit of a cold shoulder throughout the recruiting process added up to extra anger that he was running the ball with. Because of that, Tennessee is now 4-1 on the season behind Bishop's out-of-this-world performance. On the flip side of things, Golesh and the Tigers blew a golden opportunity for a road upset, which will be eating at Golesh on the trip home, and for the rest of the week.
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