QUARTERBACK (B-) Rick Clausen was not sacked and didn't turn the ball over. Five Clausen passes were dropped. He finished 8-of-20 passing for 69 yards and a touchdown. Modest numbers, but he gave the offense a chance to succeed against a strong defense.

RUNNING BACKS (A) Gerald Riggs exploded for 182 yards on 11 carries, including an 80-yard TD run. Cedric Houston had 37 yards on 11 carries, but a 70-yard TD run wiped out by a penalty. Cory Anderson showed a nice burst on an 11-yard run.

WIDE RECEIVERS (D) Big drops and a big penalty at big times. Tony Brown dropped a couple of passes; Bret Smith dropped what would have been a third-down conversion in the second half. Chris Hannon's hold wiped out a 70-yard TD run. Jayson Swain was shut out.

OFFENSIVE LINE (B-) Opened some nice running lanes, but again, UT fell behind too early to stick with the run as much as it would like. Decent protection for Clausen. Richie Gandy's hold negated a 43-yard pass to Robert Meachem. Hard to complain about this beat-up group.

DEFENSIVE LINE (B-) Held their gaps well against Auburn's run blocking, but didn't have enough pressure. Had trouble corralling Jason Campbell (one sack). Jesse Mahelona had two tackles for loss. Parys Haralson was a handful for the Auburn offensive line.

LINEBACKERS (B) Auburn's longest run by a back was 17 yards, but Campbell got loose on a 28-yard scramble. Omar Gaither (18 tackles) and Kevin Burnett (13 tackles) were seemingly everywhere. John Poe came off the bench to play well.

SECONDARY (D-) Missed tackles galore in the first half, and three pass plays of more than 40 yards was too much to overcome. The safeties missed some assignments and reacted too slow at times. Also, two pass-interference penalties and a defensive hold aided Auburn. Jason Allen played hurt.

SPECIAL TEAMS (B) Great kick coverage, limiting Carnell Williams to 14 yards per kick return and holding him in check on punt returns. Dustin Colquitt averaged 40 yards per punt -- not his best, but not bad considering his injury troubles. Still not where it can be, but getting closer.

OVERALL (B-) The opponent might have been the best team in the country, but the Vols made a game of it and nearly overcame mistakes. Offense took too long to get started, leaving the defense on the field too long. Defense couldn't come up with enough big stops. Special teams was above average. Auburn was just too good.