November 21, 2020 Week 12 · Regular Season Belt defended

Auburn defends the belt, 30–17, at home over Tennessee.

Home · Defending Holder

Auburn 30

Away · Challenger

Tennessee 17

AI-Written

Recap

Tennessee came out swinging with an early touchdown drive capped by a Jarrett Guarantano 9-yard scoring run in the first quarter, and added a field goal to build a 10-0 lead. Auburn climbed back into the game with a 54-yard Bo Nix touchdown pass to Anthony Schwartz in the second quarter, then added a pair of field goals to take a 13-10 halftime advantage. The pivotal moment came early in the third quarter when Guarantano was intercepted by Smoke Monday, who returned it 100 yards for a touchdown to give Auburn a commanding 20-10 lead. Despite Tennessee's best efforts to claw back with late scores, including a 27-yard Eric Gray scoring run in the fourth quarter, Auburn sealed the belt with a clutch 50-yard field goal from Anders Carlson with 1:27 remaining to secure the 30-17 victory.

Guarantano's 9-yard TD run in Q1 gave Tennessee an early 7-0 lead and momentum
Nix's 54-yard TD pass to Schwartz in Q2 kept Auburn in the game and sparked their comeback
Smoke Monday's 100-yard pick-six in Q3 broke the game open and gave Auburn a 20-10 cushion
Anders Carlson's 50-yard FG with 1:27 left sealed Auburn's belt defense

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

AuburnTennessee

Total yards385464

Rushing yards165222

Passing yards220242

First downs2328

3rd down conv.9/159/15

Turnovers11

Penalties–yards6–604–33

Time of possession28:3131:29

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 12:00	Tennessee	+50 yd	Brent Cimaglia 50 yd FG MISSED
Q1 14:24	Tennessee	+28 yd	Jarrett Guarantano pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 28 yds to the Aub 40 for a 1ST down
Q1 8:59	Tennessee	+33 yd	Eric Gray run for 33 yds to the Tenn 48 for a 1ST down
Q1 5:56	Tennessee	+9 yd	Jarrett Guarantano run for 9 yds for a TD (Brent Cimaglia KICK)
Q1 2:40	Auburn	+0 yd	Bo Nix pass intercepted, touchback. Bryce Thompson return for no gain
Q2 13:42	Tennessee	+47 yd	Brent Cimaglia 47 yd FG GOOD
Q1 1:08	Tennessee	+25 yd	Jarrett Guarantano pass complete to Eric Gray for 25 yds to the Aub 48 for a 1ST down
Q2 12:06	Auburn	+54 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Anthony Schwartz for 54 yds for a TD AUBURN Penalty, Delay of Game (-5 Yards) to the Tenn 8 (Anders Carlson KICK)
Q2 5:36	Auburn	+25 yd	Anders Carlson 25 yd FG GOOD
Q2 5:36	Auburn	+32 yd	Anders Carlson kickoff for 65 yds , Velus Jones Jr. return for 32 yds to the Tenn 32
Q3 7:25	Auburn	+27 yd	Anders Carlson 27 yd FG GOOD
Q3 14:12	Auburn	+21 yd	Bo Nix pass complete to Eli Stove for 21 yds to the Aub 45 for a 1ST down
Q3 2:21	Tennessee	+100 yd	Jarrett Guarantano pass intercepted for a TD Smoke Monday return for 100 yds for a TD (Anders Carlson KICK)
Q3 5:13	Tennessee	+21 yd	Eric Gray run for 21 yds to the Aub 26 for a 1ST down
Q4 12:33	Tennessee	+37 yd	Brent Cimaglia 37 yd FG MISSED
Q4 8:06	Auburn	+23 yd	D.J. Williams run for 23 yds to the Tenn 13 for a 1ST down
Q4 7:14	Auburn	+9 yd	D.J. Williams run for 9 yds for a TD (Anders Carlson KICK)
Q4 5:30	Tennessee	+27 yd	Eric Gray run for 27 yds to the Aub 30 for a 1ST down
Q4 4:07	Tennessee	+1 yd	Eric Gray run for 1 yd for a TD (Brent Cimaglia KICK)
Q4 1:27	Auburn	+50 yd	Anders Carlson 50 yd FG GOOD

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Bo NixAuburn	17/26	220	8.5	1	1
Jarrett GuarantanoTennessee	15/23	156	6.8	0	1
Harrison BaileyTennessee	7/10	86	8.6	0	0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
D.J. WilliamsAuburn	11	66	6.0	1	23
Shaun ShiversAuburn	14	65	4.6	0	13
Tank BigsbyAuburn	3	24	8.0	0	12
Bo NixAuburn	9	10	1.1	0	13
Eli StoveAuburn	1	0	0.0	0	0
Eric GrayTennessee	22	173	7.9	1	33
Ty ChandlerTennessee	9	40	4.4	0	12
Harrison BaileyTennessee	3	15	5.0	0	12
Jimmy HolidayTennessee	1	6	6.0	0	6
Jarrett GuarantanoTennessee	5	-6	-1.2	1	9
Jimmy CallowayTennessee	1	-6	-6.0	0	0

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Anthony SchwartzAuburn	3	84	28.0	1	54
Seth WilliamsAuburn	5	52	10.4	0	17
Eli StoveAuburn	3	48	16.0	0	21
John Samuel ShenkerAuburn	2	11	5.5	0	6
Shaun ShiversAuburn	1	7	7.0	0	7
J.J. PeguesAuburn	1	7	7.0	0	7
Shedrick JacksonAuburn	1	6	6.0	0	6
D.J. WilliamsAuburn	1	5	5.0	0	5
Eric GrayTennessee	3	49	16.3	0	25
Jalin HyattTennessee	3	37	12.3	0	17
Ty ChandlerTennessee	4	37	9.3	0	12
Princeton FantTennessee	3	28	9.3	0	15
Jacob WarrenTennessee	3	28	9.3	0	18
Velus Jones Jr.Tennessee	2	27	13.5	0	28
Brandon Edward JohnsonTennessee	1	12	12.0	0	12
Ramel KeytonTennessee	1	10	10.0	0	10
Josh PalmerTennessee	1	8	8.0	0	8
Jimmy CallowayTennessee	1	6	6.0	0	6

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR	TD
Owen PappoeAuburn	12	7	0	0	0	1	0
Jamien SherwoodAuburn	8	6	1	1	0	0	0
Christian TuttAuburn	6	5	0	0	0	0	0
Zakoby McClainAuburn	6	2	0	0	0	0	0
Daquan NewkirkAuburn	6	1	0.5	0.5	0	0	0
Roger McCrearyAuburn	5	4	0	1	0	0	0
Dre ButlerAuburn	5	2	0	0	0	0	0
Smoke MondayAuburn	4	3	0	0	1	1	1
Caleb JohnsonAuburn	4	3	0	1	0	0	0
Big Kat BryantAuburn	4	1	1	1	0	1	0
Colby WoodenAuburn	4	1	1.5	1.5	0	0	0
Tyrone TruesdellAuburn	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
Nehemiah PritchettAuburn	2	2	0	0	1	0	0
Ladarius TennisonAuburn	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Derick HallAuburn	2	1	0	0	0	1	0
Jordyn PetersAuburn	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Marco DomioAuburn	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
T.D. MoultryAuburn	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris Thompson Jr.Auburn	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jaylin SimpsonAuburn	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Matthew ButlerTennessee	6	5	0	0.5	0	1	0
Bryce ThompsonTennessee	6	5	0	0	1	0	0
Deandre JohnsonTennessee	6	2	0	1.5	0	1	0
Trevon FlowersTennessee	5	4	0	0	1	0	0
Kivon BennettTennessee	5	3	2	3	0	0	0
H To O To OTennessee	5	3	0	0	0	0	0
Warren BurrellTennessee	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
Theo JacksonTennessee	4	3	0	0	0	0	0
Kurott GarlandTennessee	4	2	0	0	0	0	0
Quavaris CrouchTennessee	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
Jeremy BanksTennessee	3	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler BaronTennessee	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
Tamarion McDonaldTennessee	2	1	0	0	0	0	0
Alontae TaylorTennessee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
John MinceyTennessee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Omari ThomasTennessee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Darel MiddletonTennessee	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Aubrey SolomonTennessee	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Elijah SimmonsTennessee	1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Smoke MondayAuburn	1	100	1
Bryce ThompsonTennessee	1	0	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Velus Jones Jr.Tennessee	2	40	20.0	32	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Anders CarlsonAuburn	3/3	100.0	50	3/3	12
Brent CimagliaTennessee	1/3	33.3	47	2/2	5

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Oscar ChapmanAuburn	2	73	36.5	0	0	40
Paxton BrooksTennessee	2	74	37.0	0	0	47

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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