AUBURN, Ala. — Moments after Tennessee’s stunner over No. 21 Auburn, Jeremy Pruitt wiped the sweet celebratory sweat off his head and could barely talk over the euphoric sounds emanating from the Vols locker room right next door.

“To go on the road and win against a really good football team in the SEC, I think speaks to how far we’ve come as a football program in the last 10 months,” Pruitt said.

The Tigers, albeit talented, are not “a really good football team.”

But right now, that doesn’t matter.

Tennessee’s win might’ve been an aberration, but right now, that doesn’t matter either.

While difficult questions still lie ahead for the Vols, what happened on The Plains yesterday was a cathartic, Andy gets reunited with Red type moment Tennessee’s coaches, players and fans have been longing for.

Yesterday, more than two years of frustration, stress and hopelessness were buried inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“It’s beautiful, man,” safety Nigel Warrior told me after the game.

“Relief. … I’m speechless about it, honestly.”

For the first time in 23 months, Saturday didn’t suck for Big Orange Nation.

And right now, that’s all that matters.

1. Rapid report card grades!

QB: A+

RB: B

WR: A

TE: C+

OL: B-

DL: B+

LB: C

DB: B+

ST: B+

2. How do you upset a team on the road? You limit mistakes and respond when things don’t go your way. The Vols did that time and again Saturday, further evidence of the growing confidence between the coaches and the players.

Here’s a slew of key "response" moments...

A) Auburn had marched it up and down the field on its first two possessions, as Tennessee struggled with with the tempo and its run fits. The Vols couldn’t set the edge, allowing the Tigers to convert several 3rd-and-shorts. But Paul Bain blew up a play inside the 5-yard line on second down and then Bryce Thompson, who was caught out of position a couple times early, made a key PBU in the end zone. The Tigers were forced to settle for a field goal instead of going up 14-3.

B) Tennessee had a nice drive that stalled, so it settled for a 48-yard field goal attempt. The Tigers blocked it, briefly igniting a sleepy stadium. Again, the Vols didn’t blink. Two plays later, Thompson picked off Jarrett Stidham to setup Ty Chandler's score.

C) The Vols allowed a long touchdown to Anthony Schwartz, as Thompson missed a tackle and Theo Jackson took one of the most bizarre angles I can remember. Then on the ensuing offensive possession, Tim Jordan didn't run to the sticks on 3rd down and danced short of the marker. This time, Tennessee’s special teams made a key response play. Joe Doyle uncorked a bouncing rugby torpedo, landing the punt inside the 3-yard line. Auburn then messed up its clock management, allowing Tennessee to get a field goal right before halftime.

D) On the opening drive of the third quarter, Tennessee got stoned on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1. Again, the Tigers had some momentum up 17-13, but the Vols weren't shook and immediately forced a 3-and-out.

E) Pruitt smartly called for an onside kick after an Auburn penalty, but for the second time this season, Tennessee had 3-4 guys around the football who failed to grab it. No fuss though. Two plays later, Alexis Johnson and Kyle Phillips combined for Tennessee’s Yakety Sax fumble touchdown, effectively sealing the upset.

F) Finally, pretty much every 3rd and long completion from Jarrett Guarantano and Tennessee’s wideouts. The Vols (oftentimes on their own doing) were backed up over and over, yet they feasted on 1-on-1 coverage with jump balls and back-shoulder throws, bailing themselves out seven total times. On Friday, I semi-jokingly advocated for the Mark Sanchez/Joe Flacco heave-and-hope offense, and the Tennessee essentially took that strategy on third down. And it worked.

3. With no run game, Tennessee scored 30 points against a defense littered with future NFL players, so I want to make this point first: I liked a lot of the wrinkles and new stuff the offense showed coming out of the bye week.

For one, apparently all it took for Ty Chandler to be used appropriately (career-high 21 touches for 112 yards) was for Tyson Helton to just had to literally be on the field with him.

But small tweaks like using Chandler in jet motion (the play didn’t work but was it a good call), on bubble screens or firing to empty (he ran straight past a linebacker on a play that was negated due to a mistake by Josh Palmer) was smart. The tunnel screen to Jauan Jennings was well-designed and moving Marquez Callaway into the slot to take take advantage of his size over Auburn’s nickel corner worked, too. The design on Chandler's wide-open touchdown was great, as he leaked straight down the seam, with the formation totally manipulating Auburn's linebackers who were forced to cover for a corner blitzing.

But …

4. The first-down play-calling? Hide kids. Hide your wife. Don’t look because yuck.

Much was made postgame on Helton moving onto the field Saturday — more on that in a moment — but the change of scenery didn’t alter his first-down play-sheet.

Tennessee ran the ball 20 times on first down. After Chandler and Jordan both had nice gains (18 yards apiece) early in the first quarter, the Vols effectively wasted a down the rest of the game.

There’s predictable … and then there’s banging your head just to prove a point because why?

I get being run-heavy to set up play-action — I've noted how Guarantano is at his best on these throws — but the Vols called just five play-action passes against Auburn — their fewest percentage of drop-backs against a Power 5 team this season.

So why the instance on the bullheaded approach?

Before the play-action deep shot to Josh Palmer, the Vols ran the football on seven straight first downs in the second half for a total of two yards. They had 12 yards total on first down runs after the opening quarter. On the season, Tennessee is running 74 percent of the time on first down. There was new stuff to like about the offense Saturday, but this strategy won’t work long-term. You can't expect to convert 70 percent of 3rd and 8+ every week.

5. After this game, this is what Pruitt said about Helton moving from the box to the sideline:

"I think it's easier to call the game from the press box. I do. My whole life, I did, in the press box calling the defense. But there comes a point in time that you need to be able to look the people on the sideline in the eyes, and you get a lot better feel. Sometimes you can look at somebody, and they don't have to say nothing. You know the look.

"I thought it was important to put him on the field, to get him closer Jarrett. The quarterback position, the ball goes through his hands on every snap. It's important that he makes really good decisions, that he's in control, that he understands, and I think it's something that helped us today. I think it helped us today in just sideline organization. I think it was a good move for our staff."

To me, the most interesting part about Pruitt’s comments was the “sideline organization.” Being down on the field during the fourth quarter, it was fascinating to watch Helton work in tandem with John Lilly, who had a headset and play-call sheet in hand. Meanwhile, Will Friend stood around the line of scrimmage, involved too.

6. Guarantano had a career-day, as the redshirt sophomore was cooking with gas on throws down the field. Finally unleashed, the former blue-chip prospect showcased his rocket arm, going 8 of 14 for 232 yards and two touchdowns on throws over 10 yards. He was poised under pressure, too, as both scores came off Auburn blitzes. Pruitt said it best on his coach’s show: “Jarrett was decisive. He put a lot of balls where only we could catch it.”

7. This is what perfect offensive execution looks like ... all 11 guys do their job. The throw and catch are fantastic, but Trey Smith seals the edge, the interior OL pick-up the A-gap blitz and Tim Jordan stones a safety coming off the edge in pass protection.

Just perfect.

8. Guys who stepped up Saturday: Jauan Jennings, Jonathan Kongbo, Marquill Osborne, Chance Hall, Shawn Shamburger, Eli Wolf, Paul Bain, Daniel Bituli.

Meanwhile, guys like Alexis Johnson, Bryce Thompson and Ty Chandler continue to lead the way.

9. After a slow start, Tennessee’s defense suffocated Auburn for much of the second and third quarters. As a group, their tackling got better and they were well-prepared for Auburn’s offense. Stidham has clearly regressed, but his second interception was a result of Tennessee’s defense knowing the play before the Tigers ever ran it. “That was something we thought we could get on these guys,” Pruitt said later.

10. One defense nitpick that continues to show up every week — and has been a problem for the last couple of seasons — is how many times Tennessee has linebackers and safeties run directly into blockers and take themselves (and sometimes teammates) out of the play. It’s uncanny. On Saturday, Nigel Warrior, Darrin Kirkland and Quart’e Sapp were all victimized by the self-block.

11. I’ll leave you with a video of Phillip Fulmer celebrating the win and Warrior’s immediate thoughts postgame: “I feel like people underestimated us. We put that steam on ‘em.”