DeSean Bishop has been the catalyst for the Tennessee offense throughout the 2026 season, and he continued that in a big way in Week 5.
Bishop finished with 33 carries and a career-high 216 yards, while scoring three touchdowns as the Volunteers overcame a halftime deficit to get a 24-14 victory against Auburn.
It was a tough day for the Volunteers’ offense, as coach Josh Heupel decided to bench Brandon Faizon and bring in George MacIntyre. MacIntrye played well in the 2nd half, but it was Bishop who led the way with a career-best afternoon.
Before Saturday, Bishop’s career-high was 147 yards in the 45-24 victory at Georgia Tech in Week 2. He scored all 3 touchdowns this week against the Tigers, with the first two being on runs of 25 and 44 yards.
With the Volunteers nursing a 17-14 lead late in the game against Auburn, Bishop delivered the dagger with a 5-yard touchdown.
A huge talking point from this game will be the decision Heupel made to pull Faizon. He had been very good to start the year, but the start of SEC play had been tough on him. In the loss to Texas last week, he was sacked 10 times. Against Auburn, he was 3-of-8, and threw his first interception of the year before being benched.
Regardless of who the quarterback is next week at Arkansas, there is no doubt that Bishop once again figures to have a major workload in the game.
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