University of Tennessee Athletics
Three Vols Garner SEC Weekly Honors
October 05, 2026 | Football
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Southeastern Conference office announced Monday that three Tennessee football standouts were recognized with weekly honors after UT's 24-14 victory over Auburn this past Saturday. Senior running back DeSean Bishop was named the SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while junior defensive back Dejuan Lane earned Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors and fifth-year punter Jackson Ross was tabbed Co-Special Teams Player of the Week.
Bishop powered Tennessee's offense with the best game of his career, rushing for a career-high 220 yards and three touchdowns on a career-best 34 carries. All three of his scores came in the second half, including touchdown runs of 25, 44 and 5 yards, as he helped the Vols pull away from the Tigers.
According to Pro Football Focus, 158 of Bishop's 220 rushing yards came after contact.
His 220 rushing yards, 34 attempts and three touchdowns were the most by an SEC player in a game this season and the second-most by any FBS player this year. Bishop became just the 20th SEC player — 24th occurrence — in the last 30 seasons (1997-2026) to rush for at least 220 yards and three touchdowns in a game. He is the 16th SEC player — 17th occurrence — in that span to accomplish the feat against another SEC opponent.
Bishop also became the first Vol to rush for 200-plus yards since Eric Gray totaled 246 yards against Vanderbilt on Nov. 30, 2019. His 220-yard effort marked just the second 200-yard rushing performance by a Tennessee player in the last 20 years.
Lane was a force on the other side of the ball, leading Tennessee with a career-high nine tackles. The junior safety also recorded two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a pivotal interception.
Lane's nine tackles surpassed his previous collegiate career high of six, set Dec. 27, 2025, against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl while he was at Penn State.
His interception came midway through the third quarter and stopped an Auburn drive in its tracks. Lane returned the pick 32 yards to the Auburn 44-yard line, marking the third interception of his career and his second as a Volunteer.
Ross was equally impactful in the field-position battle, pinning Auburn deep throughout the afternoon. The fifth-year punter averaged 44.2 yards on six punts, totaling 265 yards with a long of 51.
Five of Ross' six punts landed inside the Auburn 11-yard line, including three inside the 5. Auburn's average starting field position in the fourth quarter was its own 12-yard line, and the Tigers did not return a single punt.
Ross' five punts inside the 20 matched his career best, previously set Nov. 16, 2024, at Georgia. Since the start of the 2025 season, Ross leads the nation with 21.7 percent of his punts downed inside the 10-yard line, totaling 13 such punts. The veteran Aussie was also tabbed to the Ray Guy Award, Ray's 8 list for Week 5, which puts him in contention to potentially win National Punter of the Week honors from the award.
Tennessee has totaled 56 SEC weekly honors during the Josh Heupel era (since 2021), including eight Offensive Player of Week, four Defensive Player of the Week and eight Special Teams Player of the Week awards.
Austin Simmons, QB, Missouri
DeSean Bishop, RB, Tennessee
Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Dejuan Lane, S, Tennessee
Nicholas Rodriguez, LB, Missouri
Co-Special Teams Player of the Week
Jackson Ross, P, Tennessee
David Olano, PK, Texas A&M
Offensive Lineman of the Week
Lance Heard, OT, Kentucky
Defensive Lineman of the Week
London Simmons, DT, Alabama
Co-Freshman of the Week
Xavier Griffin, LB, Alabama
Kenny Darby, WR, Kentucky
DeSean Bishop (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Defensive Player of the Week
Dejuan Lane (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Special Teams Player of the Week
Jackson Ross (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Freshman of the Week
Faizon Brandon (vs. Furman, 9/7/26; vs. Georgia Tech, 9/14/26)
Bishop powered Tennessee's offense with the best game of his career, rushing for a career-high 220 yards and three touchdowns on a career-best 34 carries. All three of his scores came in the second half, including touchdown runs of 25, 44 and 5 yards, as he helped the Vols pull away from the Tigers.
According to Pro Football Focus, 158 of Bishop's 220 rushing yards came after contact.
His 220 rushing yards, 34 attempts and three touchdowns were the most by an SEC player in a game this season and the second-most by any FBS player this year. Bishop became just the 20th SEC player — 24th occurrence — in the last 30 seasons (1997-2026) to rush for at least 220 yards and three touchdowns in a game. He is the 16th SEC player — 17th occurrence — in that span to accomplish the feat against another SEC opponent.
Bishop also became the first Vol to rush for 200-plus yards since Eric Gray totaled 246 yards against Vanderbilt on Nov. 30, 2019. His 220-yard effort marked just the second 200-yard rushing performance by a Tennessee player in the last 20 years.
Lane was a force on the other side of the ball, leading Tennessee with a career-high nine tackles. The junior safety also recorded two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a pivotal interception.
Lane's nine tackles surpassed his previous collegiate career high of six, set Dec. 27, 2025, against Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl while he was at Penn State.
His interception came midway through the third quarter and stopped an Auburn drive in its tracks. Lane returned the pick 32 yards to the Auburn 44-yard line, marking the third interception of his career and his second as a Volunteer.
Ross was equally impactful in the field-position battle, pinning Auburn deep throughout the afternoon. The fifth-year punter averaged 44.2 yards on six punts, totaling 265 yards with a long of 51.
Five of Ross' six punts landed inside the Auburn 11-yard line, including three inside the 5. Auburn's average starting field position in the fourth quarter was its own 12-yard line, and the Tigers did not return a single punt.
Ross' five punts inside the 20 matched his career best, previously set Nov. 16, 2024, at Georgia. Since the start of the 2025 season, Ross leads the nation with 21.7 percent of his punts downed inside the 10-yard line, totaling 13 such punts. The veteran Aussie was also tabbed to the Ray Guy Award, Ray's 8 list for Week 5, which puts him in contention to potentially win National Punter of the Week honors from the award.
Tennessee has totaled 56 SEC weekly honors during the Josh Heupel era (since 2021), including eight Offensive Player of Week, four Defensive Player of the Week and eight Special Teams Player of the Week awards.
SEC Weekly Awards – Week 5 (Oct. 5, 2026)
Co-Offensive Player of the WeekAustin Simmons, QB, Missouri
DeSean Bishop, RB, Tennessee
Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Dejuan Lane, S, Tennessee
Nicholas Rodriguez, LB, Missouri
Co-Special Teams Player of the Week
Jackson Ross, P, Tennessee
David Olano, PK, Texas A&M
Offensive Lineman of the Week
Lance Heard, OT, Kentucky
Defensive Lineman of the Week
London Simmons, DT, Alabama
Co-Freshman of the Week
Xavier Griffin, LB, Alabama
Kenny Darby, WR, Kentucky
Tennessee Football – 2026 SEC Weekly Honors
Offensive Player of the WeekDeSean Bishop (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Defensive Player of the Week
Dejuan Lane (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Special Teams Player of the Week
Jackson Ross (vs. Auburn, 10/5/26)
Freshman of the Week
Faizon Brandon (vs. Furman, 9/7/26; vs. Georgia Tech, 9/14/26)
Players Mentioned
Monday, October 05
Monday, October 05
Monday, October 05
Saturday, October 03
