Tennessee was out for blood against the Auburn Tigers and new head coach Alex Golesh. To an SEC outsider that would seem unusual considering there is not long-tenured rivalry between the two college football programs but recent history built a palpable tension for the contest.
Specifically, Volunteers running back DeSean Bishop made it a point to trample over Golesh's team in an effort to make him regret an early-career decision.
"Every time I touched the ball, they've gotta feel me."
— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) October 4, 2026
Tennessee RB DeSean Bishop following his 34-carry, 220-yard performance vs Auburn
🎥 Bishop was asked what was going through his mind before his big 4th-and-1 carry in the fourth quarter. pic.twitter.com/qjWSm0jjtl
“I'm not going to lie, I’m going to keep it real – like this game was very personal [for me] from just the mindset of Golesh, he was one of the reasons I was a walk-on at the University of Tennessee,” Bishop told press postgame. "Throughout the whole game, every time I touched the ball, like they’ve got to feel me, they’ve got to feel what they were missing when they got me here. But in a sense, it was really a blessing in disguise, that I wouldn’t be here without his goal. So any time I touch the ball, man, it’s a purpose that I’m trying to prove."
Golesh was Tennessee's offensive coordinator from 2021-22 and it was in that latter season, Bishop claimed, the current Auburn head coach recommended he be passed over for a scholarship, forcing Bishop to walk on to the team. It's the brutality of the business but those kinds of decisions can come back to bite you as a coach like it did Golesh on Saturday.
Tennessee ghosts haunted Alex Golesh and Auburn in SEC loss
Bishop tore up the Tiger defense for 220 yards and three touchdowns in the 24-14 victory at Rocky Top. He was All-SEC performer with over 2,000 rushing yards in 2025, clearly disproving Golesh's doubt about his potential when he arrived in Knoxville.
According to GoVols247 via the Knoxville News Sentinel, Tennessee offered Bishop during a 2021 camp when the Josh Heupel regime first took over. After doubts about his game were made apparent, presumably by Golesh, Bishop instead chose to commit to Coastal Carolina in 2022 but reopened his recruitment when that program made a sudden coaching change. He ultimately chose to walk on for the Volunteers over a taking a scholarship offer from Appalachian State.
To be fair, Bishop benefitted from Heupel abandoning the air attack by benching quarterback Faizon Brandon and opting for a ground-and-pound approach on Saturday. Regardless, the motivation could not have been more clear and it must've been driving his successful career to date.
Follow Auburn head coach Alex Golesh through his postgame handshake with Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, catching up with former Volunteers running back Dylan Sampson and off the field at Neyland Stadium after the Tigers' 24-14 loss. pic.twitter.com/zPgqdiSuH3
— Auburn Tigers | AL.com (@aldotcomTigers) October 3, 2026
It wasn't all hate for Golesh from the Tennessee side, though. Several players and Heupel all embraced him after the game in what could've easily been a bitter homecoming. Notably, Bishop was not one of those players but in such a crowd at midfield they easily could've missed one another if pleasantries were going to be exchanged.
Auburn fans will be hoping Golesh doesn't have any more bad blood opponents heading their way as exhaustion from losing must be at an all-time high. The program has now lost 22 of its last 23 contests against AP-ranked foes with its next opportunities coming Oct. 17 against No. 2 Georgia, Oct. 24 against No. 10 LSU and Oct. 31 against No. 9 Ole Miss. That losing stretch is probably going to be extended considerably.
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