Auburn football head coach Alex Golesh will return to his old stomping grounds in Week 5 of the 2026 season, as the Tigers are set to travel to Neyland Stadium to face off against the Tennessee Volunteers.
Golesh, the Volunteers' offensive coordinator and tight ends coach from 2021-2022, will be taking on his former team for the first time on Oct. 3. This matchup will mark the first time the two squads have faced off since the 2020 season, and just the fourth time in the past 16 years.
The Tigers lead the all-time series, boasting a 29-22-3 record against the Volunteers dating back to 1900. This is largely thanks to a dominant stretch by the Tigers in recent history, as they have won seven of their last eight matchups against Tennessee since the turn of the century.
Their most recent matchup six years ago ended in a comfortable Auburn victory at home, as the Tigers took down the Volunteers 30-17, spearheaded by a 100-yard pick-six from safety Smoke Monday and a 54-yard touchdown reception from Anthony Schwartz.
While the two squads have had far fewer matchups in the past 25 years, Auburn and Tennessee have a historically deep rivalry. The Vols and Tigers faced off every year from 1956 to 1991, with Auburn going 19-14-3 in this stretch before a six-year hiatus. This was followed by a dominant three-game winning streak by Tennessee from 1997 to 1999.
After the 2020 season, the Volunteers hired Golesh and current head coach Josh Heupel from UCF to restructure their offense. Together, the duo produced one of the most successful SEC offenses in recent memory.
The 2022 Volunteers produced the best offense in college football that season, averaging 525.5 yards per game and scoring 78 touchdowns, with quarterback Hendon Hooker throwing for over 3,000 yards and finishing fifth in the final Heisman voting.
Now, with Golesh set to take on Heupel for the first time since leaving for the head coaching job at USF in late 2022, Auburn will be hoping to see a similar form of offensive brilliance in an intimidating environment. In the past three seasons, the Vols have been nearly unbeatable in the extremely loud Neyland Stadium, holding a record of 20-4 at home since 2023.
Tennessee will feature an offense almost entirely composed of returning players, but who will be under center for the Vols is still in question, as redshirt freshman George MacIntyre and highly touted true freshman Faizon Brandon are currently battling for the starting quarterback position. Unlike Auburn, however, Tennessee is trotting out a completely restructured defense after ranking No. 96 nationally in opponent points per game last season.
Road SEC matchups have been a tough feat for the Tigers as of late; Auburn has only won two away games in the past two seasons. The Tigers will be hoping to break this tough stretch and make an impressive statement on Rocky Top this upcoming October.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
