Have you ever missed football so much that you become willing to rewatch one of the worst losses you’ve ever seen to a dumpster fire opponent?

I have.

That’s what two bye weeks have done to me. I have rewatched the 2018 Auburn vs Tennessee game and I have some thoughts.

First of all, what a mess.

The final score may have been 30-24, but it felt like Tennessee had hung 60 on the Tigers. This is thanks in large part to three costly turnovers committed at the hands of current New England Patriots backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham. Stidham threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns but the quarterback became unraveled after he threw his first interception in the second quarter.

Luckily the Volunteers weren’t able to capitalize off of that interception, but it didn’t matter because they’d get 14 points off Stidham’s last two errors.

The most nauseating moment of the entire game came late in the third quarter when the Tigers forgot the concept of ball security. I remember watching this play in Moe’s Barbecue. Major thanks to the Florida State fans who offered the shots after this. So Auburn has the ball on their own 30-yard line. Stidham runs backwards…and then he keeps running backwards before finally getting strip sacked by two dudes.

I can’t even remember how many people tried to recover the ball after that but I know there were at least three Auburn guys tangled up in the scuffle. None of them were successful and Tennessee’s Alontae Taylor ran the ball in for the Tennessee touchdown.

👀 Surprise à Auburn ? Les Volunteers semblent plus à l'aise en attaque et profitent des 3 turnovers des Tigers comme sur ce fumble de QB Jarrett Stidham récupéré pour un TD de Darrell Taylor. #UpsetAlert
Auburn 17, Tennessee 27 pic.twitter.com/qswSoMaPo1

— TBP College Football (@thebluepennant) October 13, 2018

The miscue was preposterous and ended up injuring running back JaTarvious Whitlow who was unable to return for the remainder of the game.

Auburn’s next three offensive drives resulted in a missed field goal, a punt, and a turnover on downs. The Tigers attempted to stifle the bleeding with a late touchdown in the fourth quarter, but were unable to recover the onside kick afterwards. This was about the time I began deliberating whether or not I should leave Moe’s to find Charles Barkley at Hamilton’s. I did not because bushwackers and wings.

It’s sad, but when you rewatch the game you can really hear the boos echoing from the fans in Jordan-Hare. If you listen really closely you can probably hear us lamenting in Moe’s as well. Some fans may have been booing Stidham, but the majority would say they were directing those boos at head coach Gus Malzahn who had just been gifted the most insane contract extension of all-time.

Word of advice, don’t look at the stat line for this game. Don’t even re-watch this game because its not 2018 anymore, its 2020 and Auburn is in much better shape than they were in 2018. This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for that.