Tennessee Can’t Hold Ball or Lead : SEC: Volunteers drop four potential interceptions and Auburn rallies for a 26-26 tie.

Tennessee Coach Johnny Majors won’t soon forget Saturday’s astonishing, thrill-a-minute, can-you-believe-it 26-26 tie with Auburn.

But he’ll try. Oh, will he try.

Majors watched in disbelief as the fifth-ranked Volunteers, on the verge of upsetting No. 3-ranked Auburn at a Jordan-Hare Stadium, blew a 17-point fourth-quarter lead in ways that had to be seen to be believed.

The Volunteers (3-0-2) dropped four, count ‘em, four, would-be interceptions in the fourth quarter alone.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many passes slip through our hands,” Majors said.

They allowed Auburn (3-0), with its redshirt freshman quarterback, to run a hurry-up offense to perfection. Stan White, with a whopping three games to his credit, completed 30 of 58 attempts for an Auburn-record 338 yards and three touchdowns.

“I just can’t believe it,” said Tennessee defensive tackle Mark Moore.

They failed to stop the Tigers on two fourth-down plays late in the final quarter, both of which resulted in touchdowns.

But Majors would have happily accepted all the mistakes had Tennessee kicker Greg Burke, usually as cool as dry ice in these situations, not missed a 34-yard attempt with 11 seconds left. But miss he did, wide left, allowing the Tigers a finish that will be debated for what might have been.

The comeback was enough to cause Auburn Coach Pat Dye, his blue, long-sleeved shirt soaked with sweat, to smile the smile of someone who knew he evaded something greater than a loss. A chance at a conference championship lives, as does a shot at a national title. But it was close. Very close.

“This is gonna make an old man out of me,” Dye said.

Dye’s temples were forever grayed by Tennessee’s seemingly insurmountable 26-9 lead in the fourth quarter. And no doubt those Auburn fourth-down conversions caused a heart palpitation or two.

But Dye said he will never lose sleep over his decision to play for a tie rather than a win. With 1:56 remaining, Dye ordered his Tigers, fresh from celebrating a 13-yard scoring pass from White to wide receiver Greg Taylor, to kick the extra point. They did as told.

“Number one, that was the best way to win,” Dye said. “If we tie the ballgame, they’re not going to go for it on fourth down. Two, our players had fought too hard to come away with a loss. Three, we’ve won three straight (Southeastern Conference) championships. A loss tonight would have knocked us out of it because ain’t nobody going to beat Tennessee.”

A split-second decision on Dye’s part? Hardly.

“I had thought about it before the ballgame,” Dye said.

In fact, Dye had called Majors earlier in the week to ask what the Tennessee coach would do if faced with the prospect of a tie.

So, with the game even, Tennessee took the kickoff and started a drive at its 23. Six plays later, the Volunteers were on the Auburn 17. So careful was Tennessee, that Tennessee quarterback Andy Kelly took a second-down snap, ran to the middle of the field and fell down--all to give Burke a straighter shot at the goalposts.

On third and 12, the clock ticking toward the 11-second mark, Burke, who was three for three this season between 30 and 39 yards, sent the ball toward the uprights. It never had a chance. “I was confident,” Burke said. “That’s the position I wanted to be in. I know I let a lot of people down.”

Tennessee only has itself to blame. But there were moments, lots of them, when it appeared, as Majors would say later, “that it wasn’t meant to be. Or something like that.”

An apparent interception by Volunteer linebacker Darryl Hardy was ruled a non-catch by the referee. The call came with less than 10 minutes left. Auburn went on to score.

“Did the TV show that he caught it?” Dye wondered.

Told yes, Dye grinned. “Well, the official was closer to it than the TV camera. It’s over now. They ain’t going to take it back.”

Auburn made more mistakes than first downs in the first half. For instance, it is never a good sign when you have as many turnovers as points. But there were the Tigers, fumbling and bumbling their way to a 19-3 halftime deficit.

It took some doing, too, since Tennessee was contributing its share of errors. A total of 18 first-half possessions produced the following:

Auburn: Two fumbles, one interception, five punts (one which was partially blocked), one field goal. The Tigers didn’t record a first down until 3:10 left in the first quarter. Auburn drove into Tennessee’s territory only twice.

Tennessee: three interceptions, one fumble.

Needless to say, no one will be sending the game film to any coaching clinics soon.

Between mistakes, the Volunteers took the tipped punt and turned it into a 35-yard field goal by Burke with 9:10 left in the first period.

About five minutes later, they turned an interception into a 32-yarder by Burke.

Tennessee scored in the second quarter when quarterback Kelly and wingback Alvin Harper connected on an 82-yard touchdown pass play, the second longest in Volunteer history. The Volunteers missed on a two-point conversion attempt.

Greg Amsler scored from the three two plays after safety Roderick Lewis picked up James Joseph’s fumble and returned it 30 yards to the five-yard line. Tennessee led, 19-0, with 5:47 left in the half.

Only a 36-yard field goal by Jim Von Wyl with 51 seconds left averted the Auburn first-half shutout.