Auburn dropped its second straight game and fell to 1-3 in SEC play following a 30-24 loss to a lowly Tennessee team. It was arguably the worst loss of the Gus Malzahn era, as the Tigers hit rock bottom with a daunting schedule still ahead. Before Auburn can look ahead to Ole Miss, AL.com hands out position-by-position grades for the Tigers' loss to the Vols.

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Tennessee linebacker Deandre Johnson (13) sacks Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham (8) on fourth down in the second half.

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Quarterback: D

Jarrett Stidham attempted a career-high 45 passes while putting together his first 300-yard passing game of the season. He completed 62.2 percent of his passes for 322 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he committed three costly turnovers that led to 14 Tennessee point. Stidham had two interceptions, including one on a botched trick play, and a fumble that was recovered by Tennessee and returned for a score.

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Malik Miller runs the ball against Tennessee on Saturday.

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Running backs: D

Auburn snapped its three-game streak of being held to fewer than 100 yards rushing, but not by much. The Tigers rushed for 126 yards against Tennessee, though 44 of those came from receiver Anthony Schwartz, who led the team in rushing Saturday. No running back had more than 42 yards rushing (Malik Miller), while starter Boobee Whitlow left the game late in the third quarter with an upper-body injury after hustling to try to recover Stidham's fumble. Miller was a bright spot among the group, making the most of his touches while averaging 5.3 yards per carry and adding six receptions for 57 yards.

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Auburn wide receiver Seth Williams (18) grabs a touchdown reception over Tennessee defensive back Bryce Thompson (20) during the second half.

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Wide receivers: B

Auburn's receivers generally did a good job of making plays against Tennessee when given the opportunity, outside of a couple notable misfires -- including a dropped deep ball by Darius Slayton when Auburn trailed in the second half that would have likely been a touchdown. Still, five different wide receivers got involved in the offense as Stidham completed passes to 10 different players. Ryan Davis led the team with seven receptions on 10 targets for 57 yards. Slayton had two grabs for 24 yards. The Tigers also made an effort to get their freshman playmakers more involved this week, as Seth Williams hauled in five passes for a team-high 85 yards and a touchdown, while Anthony Schwartz had five total touches for 127 yards and a touchdown.

An added bonus to the receivers grade: Schwartz and Davis both made shoestring tackles to prevent pick-sixes on each of Stidham's two interceptions.

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Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics

Left guard Marquel Harrell and H-back Chandler Cox celebrate Cox's first-half touchdown run against Tennessee.

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H-backs/tight ends: D

Auburn's run game struggled yet again as the offensive line and lead blockers couldn't create many running lanes. At H-back, Chandler Cox had one 6-yard reception on a first down early in the game and had one carry for a 1-yard touchdown -- his second score of the season and just the second rushing touchdown of his career, with the other coming in he Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma during the 2016 season.

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Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics

Auburn's offensive line protects Jarrett Stidham as he attempts a throw downfield against Tennessee.

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Offensive line: D

The offensive line welcomed back Jack Driscoll at right tackle this week, but the unit still struggled, allowing four negative plays, including two sacks, while allowing Jarrett Stidham to be pressured into three turnovers -- as both of his interceptions came under duress and his fumble came on a sack. Auburn yet again fell short of its 200-yard rushing goal, totaling just 126 yards on the ground and averaging only 3.7 yards per carry. Nick Brahms also had some issues with his snaps.

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Todd Van Emst/Auburn Athletics

Auburn's Nick Coe sacks Tennessee's Jarrett Guarantano in the first half.

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Defensive line: B-

Auburn improved its performance in the run game, limiting Tennessee to just 68 yards rushing and 1.9 yards per carry for the game. The Tigers had some success rushing the passer, recording three sacks (with defensive linemen in on all three of them) and four hurries (three of which were from linemen), though Tennessee's Jarrett Guarantano enjoyed a career day passing the ball.

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Auburn linebacker Montavious Atkinson combines with defensive tackle Dontavius Russell to sack Tennessee's Jarrett Guarantano on Saturday.

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Linebackers: B-

Again, Auburn improved much better against the run this week, and the linebackers had a hand in that. Deshaun Davis, unsurprisingly, led the team in tackles again with 10 total stops. Missed tackles also appeared to be cleaned up from a week ago against Mississippi State.

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Michael Chang/Getty Images

Tennessee's Jauan Jennings catches a touchdown over Auburn defensive back Jordyn Peters in the third quarter. (Michael Chang/Getty Images)

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Cornerbacks: D-

This was Auburn's worst performance against the pass since former Ole Miss quarterback Shea Patterson passed for 346 yards, though he did that on 51 attempts. Jarrett Guarantano completed 21-of-32 passes for 328 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including an impressive 11-of-14 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown on third downs. His season high for passing yards in a game was 172. He nearly doubled that against Auburn with the help of several 50/50 balls downfield, with the Vols' receivers coming down with them more often than not. The Tigers' secondary gave up six passes of at least 25 yards and four passes of at least 30 yards without forcing a turnover.

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Auburn defensive back Jeremiah Dinson (20) hits Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano and is called for targeting during the third quarter.

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Safeties: D

Again, Auburn's pass defense was torched by Guarantano, and while most of those longer passes were in coverage against the corners, the performance of the secondary also falls on the safeties. Add in the ejection of Jeremiah Dinson for targeting late in the third quarter, and it wasn't a great day overall for the Tigers' secondary.

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Anders Carlson attempts a field goal during Auburn's loss to Tennessee.

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Special teams: B

Auburn again had a couple issues on special teams this week, though the good outshined the bad. Marlon Davidson blocked a field goal for the second straight week, and Arryn Siposs continues to be a weapon in the punt game, averaging 44.3 yards on three punts, with one downed inside the 15-yard line. Anders Carlson was 1-of-2 on field goal attempts with another miss from beyond 50 yards (despite Gus Malzahn saying again last week that he would try to prevent Carlson from attempting those longer kicks). The Tigers also had a miscommunication on a kickoff return that resulted in a drive starting at their own 11.

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Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn looks on during the first half against Tennessee.

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Coaching: D

The offensive playcalling wasn't bad, particularly early on, and the Tigers had more success moving the ball and sustaining some drives, though inconsistency remained -- and to an extent that falls on the coaches. Gus Malzahn on Tuesday said that it's his responsibility to get things turned around, and he hasn't been able to do that yet, leading to Auburn's worst loss of his six-year tenure on the Plains. Defensively, Kevin Steele will be the first to tell you the Tigers' performance on that side of the ball falls squarely on his shoulders.

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Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.