AUBURN, Ala. — It was hard to hear every word Jeremy Pruitt said during his postgame press conference following his first SEC win as Tennessee's coach. The celebrations of his Vols in the locker room next door were loud. They were warranted, too. "It's unbelievable," left tackle Trey Smith said after Tennessee's 30-24 upset of No. 21 Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon. "That's my SEC victory as a team. That's a great moment for me, man. I've been waiting out a long time." Smith hasn't been alone in his waiting. Tennessee last won an SEC game in November 2016, when Butch Jones was the head coach, Joshua Dobbs was the starting quarterback and Tennessee's backfield included both Alvin Kamara and John Kelly. The Vols last won an SEC road game at Georgia earlier that season. Tennessee hasn't had the chance to celebrate in a conference rival's stadium in more than two years. For much of the roster, Saturday was their first opportunity to do so. "I was so tired of losing," running back Ty Chandler. "I was ready to shake it off. I'm glad to come in here and get this win in a tough environment. Great team we played against today, so I'm glad to just come in here and get it." Tennessee hardly brought many fans to its road game at Georgia two weeks ago. It was a family-and-friends kind of crowd in the visitor's section as the Vols lost 38-12. Tennessee's traveling contingent on Saturday was some 5,000-strong as fans took advantage of the only trip to The Plains the Vols might not make again until 2032 unless the SEC adjusts the format of his conference scheduling. Celebrating with the main fan sections in the corner of Jordan-Hare Stadium was a sweet moment for Tennessee's players, and there was a jovial mood outside the locker room as players and coaches came out to see their families. "It's magical, man," Smith said. "When I came to Tennessee, a big part of it was my love for the state, love for the fans, love for the tradition. Just seeing everybody happen, that's happened a lot of times in Neyland. To be able to go to another person's stadium and do that, I mean that's special. "To be able to share it with some fans, a lot of fans, man, that's a great moment." After road losses, there's usually a hurry to get on the bus to the plane and get out of town and back to Knoxville. Nobody was in a hurry outside the Tennessee locker room on Saturday, though. "This is not an easy place to win," Pruitt said. "Nowhere is in the SEC. To go on the road and win against a really good football team in the SEC, I think speaks how far we've came as a program in the last 10 months. Things didn't go our way today all the time, but we're learning to kind of play the next play, not letting the last play have any affect on the next one. "We're growing up, and it's good for our guys and I'm glad for them. It's good to see the smiles on their face. I hope they get used to winning." (ENJOY VIP ACCESS TO GOVOLS247 WITH A FREE SEVEN-DAY TRIAL) Smith said there was no celebration leader in the locker room. Every player was having fun and enjoying the moment. It's been a long time since the Vols won a game like this, so it's no surprise there was an access of hooting and hollering after the win. The businesslike Pruitt won't have Tennessee scheduling any parade, but he was nearly brought to tears two weeks ago in talking about how tough it's been for his players having to deal with the negativity of losing while trying to buy into a new program and get the ship turned around. "Magical" was the word Smith more than once to describe the lot of it. "I've been watching CBS Sports football since I was little," he said, stopping to hum the "SEC on CBS" intro synonymous with big SEC football games, "Every time I heard that, and Verne Lundquist's voice come on, it was big. Just being able to come down to an historically good football stadium like Auburn, it was really a dream pulling up here and being able to play out there. "It's a blessing every day, but it was a huge moment for me, huge moment for my brothers out there."<doc-sep>Tennessee running back Ty Chandler (8) runs in a 42-yard pass for a touchdown again Auburn during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 13, 2018, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt) Tennessee’s 11-game SEC losing streak has finally come to an end. The Vols went on the road and knocked off a reeling Auburn team, 30-24. For Tennessee, it marked the first conference victory since Nov. 19, 2016 and its first win over Auburn since Oct. 2, 1999. And it was the best performance in the young career of Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano. Guarantano, a sophomore, threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns. He was especially good on third down. On 3rd & 8 and longer during @Vol_Football’s win over Auburn, quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was 8-for-8 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown. pic.twitter.com/Gmr8XiuKQP — Tennessee Stats & Info (@Vol_Stats) October 13, 2018 Guarantano’s second touchdown pass, a 25-yard connection with Jauan Jennings at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter, gave the Vols a lead they would maintain the rest of the game. That score put Tennessee ahead 20-17. On the ensuing possession, the Vols defense forced its third turnover of the afternoon. Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham tossed two first-half interceptions. This time, he was sacked and fumbled. The ball bounced every which way and eventually ended up in the hands of Tennessee’s Darrell Taylor, who walked it in for a touchdown. That wacky play extended the Vols’ lead to 27-17. It ended up being too much for the scuffling Auburn offense to overcome. Auburn is in free fall Even when Auburn was 4-1, it showed plenty of reasons for concern. Offensive issues have been evident all year. They were present in the loss to LSU and in the wins over Arkansas and Southern Miss. The Arkansas win, which had a misleading 34-3 final score, was especially of concern. The Tigers mustered only 225 yards of offense against a team that had allowed more than 800 yards combined in losses to Colorado State and North Texas. Story continues From there, when the competition got better, the wheels completely fell off. In the loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers rushed for only 90 yards, turned it over twice and didn’t score a single touchdown. Auburn was able to move the ball early against the Vols on Saturday, but turnovers doomed the Tigers in the first half and inefficiency sealed their fate in the second half. The running game has been completely underwhelming behind a lackluster offensive line. That means Stidham has to carry a bigger load, but his inability to make plays with pressure in his face has been his biggest downfall during his time on The Plains. Expectations were high entering the season, but at 4-3, Gus Malzahn needs to get things turned around quickly. Last season’s SEC West title (and a hot pursuit from Arkansas) prompted Auburn to give Malzahn a monstrous seven-year, $49 million contract extension. With that extension brought a whopping $32 million buyout. It looks like Malzahn is going to get time to dig his program out of this hole. More from Yahoo Sports: • 49ers apologize for Kaepernick photo snub • A-Rod pays the ultimate price after losing bet • Brewers pitcher’s stunning home run off Kershaw • NLCS Game 1 shows what baseball is in 2018<doc-sep>The wait is over, Tennessee. First-year coach Jeremy Pruitt took the Vols into Jordan-Hare Stadium as two-touchdown underdogs Saturday afternoon, and came away with a 30-24 win over the fledgling Auburn Tigers. The win breaks an 11-game SEC losing streak, and is Pruitt's first signature win of his head coaching career. Make no mistake, No. 21 Auburn shouldn't have been ranked based on the way its offense has played all season. But that shouldn't take away from what this means to Pruitt and the Volunteers. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano was 21-of-32 passing for 328 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions against a Tigers defense that came into the game giving up just 188 yards per game through the air and an SEC-best 153 in conference games. That has nothing to do with Auburn's ineptitude, that has to do with a quarterback coming of age in a hostile environment behind an offensive line that has been shaky all season. When you combine Guarantano's newfound confidence and a wide receiving corps that looked like one of the best in the conference Saturday afternoon, you have a recipe for success. Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway were already known commodities for the Vols, but Josh Palmer continued his work as the ultimate big play threat with three catches for 84 yards. That gives Palmer 11 catches for 284 yards on the season -- a whopping 25.8 yards per catch. Tennessee needed this win, earned this win and deserved this win. Aside from the six-turnover debacle against Florida, the Vols have played smart football all year, didn't quit and have taken on the no-nonsense mentality of Pruitt. They just didn't have the talent or experience to earn they payoff. It paid off in a big way against the Tigers. Tennessee isn't back. With the behemoth known as Georgia and an experienced coach in Dan Mullen in a fertile recruiting ground at Florida, it's going to take some time to get back into SEC East contention. But 11 games without a win in SEC play took some time too, as did finding a competent head coach that knows how to operate a functional program. Pruitt does, and laid the foundation for the future of the Tennessee football program Saturday. That fact has nothing to do with Auburn's ineptitude. It just came at the Tigers expense.<doc-sep>
Jeremy Pruitt just earned the first Southeastern Conference of his head coaching career with a 30-24 win at Auburn, but instead of going overboard with his team’s outstanding effort on the road, the Tennessee coach had his mind on getting his team to play better moving forward. That should sound very familiar to those that know the coaches Pruitt has worked for over the years. Immediately after the game, Pruitt was asked to discuss his thoughts on Tennessee’s first conference win since the 2016 season. “They’ve been doing it all season, they are improving in every game,” Pruitt said. “We are still making a lot of mistakes, aight, but our guys are fighting, that’s what we want them to do. We’ll keep coaching them and trying to get them to execute.” Pruitt’s quarterback set a new personal record in the game, throwing for 328 yards against Auburn’s defense. It was the first 300-yard game of Jarrett Guarantano’s young career. Tennessee’s coach offered up these comments on his QB’s play on the road on Saturday. “I thought our coaches on the offensive side put in a really good plan, gave him an opportunity to have success,” Pruitt commented. “He done a good job of executing the plan and our guys protected him for the most part. Our wide receivers played really good out there. It’s a good team win.” Known for his defensive mind, Pruitt had to have been pleased with that side of the ball on Saturday. Outside of a junk touchdown given up on the final drive of the game, which occurred with only 37 seconds left in the game, Tennessee shutout Auburn’s offense in the second half. Considering Auburn scored a touchdown on the opening possession of the game and got another one an Anthony Schwartz’s 76-yard catch, the Tigers were held toothless in the game outside of those situations. Tennessee’s defense also intercepted Jarrett Stidham twice in the game and held the Tigers to nine of 16 on third down conversions. “You gotta give Auburn credit in the first half, (they gave us) a lot of different looks,” Pruitt said. “We didn’t execute as well as we’d like to, in the second half, it was much better. But we have to learn to finish, got to finish, okay. We have to do a better job on that last drive right there.” Here are some of Pruitt’s comments from his post-game press conference: Opening remarks: “We beat a really good football team today. It’s like I told them in there, if we learn to execute and raise our level of fight, we’ve got a chance to have a really good football team. There were times in the game where things didn’t go our way. I didn’t think we played very well at certain times in the game, but our guys kind of kept their poise. Fought a little bit harder. They played with a little better technique. We got some turnovers and didn’t turn the ball over. “Did some good things in the special teams area to give us a chance against guys that are really good returners. Jarrett (Guarantano) did a good job taking care of the football, thought our offensive staff did a fantastic job mixing it up. I know we didn’t run the ball very well, we’re going to have to improve on that. But we did make some plays throwing the football, I thought we put the ball where our wide receivers could make the plays and nobody else. “There was a couple of times where we got into a red area, we needed to finish off, put some touchdowns and we didn’t. But it’s a fantastic effort by our guys. Something that we can build on moving down the road.” On what it’s like to win on the road: “Let me tell you, this is not an easy place to win. Nowhere is in the SEC. So to go on the road and win against a really good football team in the SEC, I think it speaks to how far we came as a program in the last 10 months. Things didn’t go our way today all the time, but we’re learning to kind of play the next play, not letting the last play have any effect on the next ones. We’re growing up. I think it’s good for our guys. I’m glad for them. It’s good to see the smiles on their face and I hope they get used to winning.”