It wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee managed to squeeze out a 24-14 win over Auburn on Saturday in Neyland Stadium.

The Vols won the game despite finishing with just 86 passing yards (running back DeSean Bishop carried the offensive load, rushing for 220 yards and three touchdowns).

Tennessee’s defense had three takeaways and a fourth down stop, which kept the Vols in the game when the offense was struggling.

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum reacts to Tennessee’s win over Auburn

ESPN’s Paul Finebaum reacted to Tennessee’s win over Auburn on Sunday morning during an appearance on The Matt Barrie Show.

Finebaum acknowledged that the game was “hard to watch,” but he was still impressed with Tennessee’s ability to win an ugly game.

“The Tennessee win was significant,” said Finebaum. “It was an ugly game against Auburn. It was hard to watch. But they at least survived — because they could have easily let that game get away. … The fact that Josh Heupel had to change quarterbacks and still — I mean, I don’t know how he squeezed a win out of one of the ugliest games I’ve ever seen.

“But it sets him up for a road game this week (against Arkansas), which they should win, and then the Alabama game. If Alabama loses (this week against Georgia), then they suddenly go to Knoxville in two weeks, and as often is the case, their season could be on the line — as crazy as that sounds — because they still have LSU down the road.”

I’ve seen some Vols fans who were frustrated after the win over Auburn because of the offense.

And I think that’s silly. College football is in a weird place right now. There’s parity in the sport unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Just look at the scores each week. Florida got blown out by Missouri this weekend after some people in the media had them as a top national championship contender (college football podcaster Josh Pate was mentioning 2019 LSU in the same sentence as 2026 Florida this week…that really happened).

More than ever, fans should be embracing Al Davis’ most famous quote — just win, baby.

Tennessee hasn’t looked great offensively in SEC play this season, but they still have a shot at the College Football Playoff. They just have to take care of business against Arkansas and then find a way to beat Alabama in two weeks. If they can do that, then the Vols will be on the cusp of the top 10 with a manageable schedule down the stretch.