Once upon a time, the Tennessee Volunteers owned an eight-game winning streak that dated back to the middle of the 2019 football season.
It has now been eight weeks since the Vols last tasted a triumph.
Eddie Van Halen was still alive and Mike Pence and Kamala Harris had yet to participate in the vice presidential debate when Tennessee thumped Missouri 35-12 inside Neyland Stadium on Oct. 3 to improve to 2-0 in this coronavirus-altered season consisting solely of league games for Southeastern Conference teams. Tennessee would climb to No. 14 in The Associated Press poll, but that preceded four double-digit losses to Georgia (44-21), Kentucky (34-7), Alabama (48-17) and Arkansas (24-13) that has saddled the Vols with a frustrating autumn they did not expect.
Tennessee will try to stop the slide Saturday night at No. 23 Auburn (4-2), with the Vols hoping to recapture the same pride and performance that resulted in a 30-24 upset of the No. 21 Tigers two years ago inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"The motivation, to be honest, is giving my all for Tennessee," sixth-year senior center Brandon Kennedy said this week. "About a year ago, I decided that I wanted to come back and help this team and earn another degree, and that has been my motivation."
Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, now a fifth-year senior, was outstanding against the Tigers in 2018, completing 21 of 32 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns. Guarantano has started each of the first six games this season, but Vols third-year coach Jeremy Pruitt said this week the quarterback situation would "show itself on Saturday."
That could mean a seventh straight start for Guarantano or a potential first start for freshman Harrison Bailey.
Tennessee hasn't played since Nov. 7, while Auburn last played on Halloween, when Gus Malzahn's Tigers had their best outing of the season with a 48-11 thumping of LSU. Auburn didn't play at Mississippi State last weekend due to coronavirus-related issues with the Bulldogs, but Auburn announced 10 positive COVID-19 cases among its players last week.
"Even when we went seven weeks COVID-free, I kept telling the guys there will probably be a week," Malzahn said. "I said it would be coming, and sure enough, it did."
Malzahn does not expect to have all 10 players who were isolated last week back for this game.
Tennessee didn't host Texas A&M last weekend due to an outbreak for the Aggies, while Alabama's trip to LSU and Georgia's journey to Missouri were shelved as well due to COVID-19. Alabama will play for the first time since Halloween when the top-ranked Crimson Tide host Kentucky, while Georgia will seek a delayed rebound from its loss to Florida in Jacksonville two weeks ago when the No. 13 Bulldogs host roster-depleted Mississippi State.
Is it Daniels?
Redshirt freshman quarterback D'Wan Mathis started Georgia's season opener at Arkansas but was replaced in the second quarter by redshirt junior Stetson Bennett IV, who rallied the Bulldogs to a 37-10 whipping of the Razorbacks and then started the next five contests. Bennett, however, sprained an AC (shoulder joint) against the Gators and was replaced by Mathis.
The extra time created by last week's postponement has resulted in a competition between the mending Bennett, Mathis, Southern California transfer JT Daniels and freshman Carson Beck. There has been speculation this week that Daniels will make his season debut as the starter, but there has been no confirmation of that from Georgia's camp.
Daniels started 11 games for the Trojans in 2018 and started last year's opener against Fresno State before sustaining a season-ending knee injury.
"JT has done some nice things," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said of the recent practices. "He's a guy who has worked really hard, just as Stetson, Carson and D'Wan have done. I am pleased with the way he has worked. I am pleased with the way he has rehabbed his knee and improved his knee and his learning of our offense. The leadership he has shown since he arrived has been very good.
"When you are in a room with guys without a lot of experience - he's a guy who has some experience."
Clock control
Alabama has never lost within its state against Kentucky and will look to keep it that way by preventing quarterback Terry Wilson, running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. and the rest of the run-happy Wildcats from controlling the clock.
The Wildcats had a 19-play, 77-yard drive that consumed 10 minutes and 28 seconds that kept a 14-3 loss to Georgia tighter than many expected. Kentucky racked up 35 minutes of possession time overall against Georgia and tallied 34 minutes in the 34-7 blowout of Tennessee in Knoxville, but the Wildcats had fewer than 17 minutes during their hapless 20-10 defeat at Missouri.
"They do a good job with formations and make you make a lot of adjustments," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. "You've got to stay gap sound in everything you do, and you've got to have enough guys in the box to account for the quarterback. I don't think we've played anyone this year that has as many quarterback runs as these guys are capable of, but some of it is as simple as just pulling the ball in a zone read.
"This is a game that requires a lot of discipline from all players. It's a little bit like when you play option football as far as principles in terms of stopping their quarterback runs, their RPOs and their passing game."
Fulmer tests positive
Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee's 70-year-old athletic director and former football coach, announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and again Friday. Fulmer added that he is asymptomatic and is now working remotely.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.