Just as Tennessee looked to take the lead with Auburn leading 13-10, Smoke Monday struck.

Jarrett Guarantano took the snap, found his man, but Monday read the throw like a book and jumped in front of it, returning it 100 yards for a pick-six.

“I knew he was one of those quarterbacks who loved to stare his receivers down,” Monday said. “I took it one way. He wasn’t doing a good job of looking us off tonight, so I tilted away and came back late, and it was right there.”

The 14-point swing was a turning point in the game for Auburn in its 30-17 victory over Tennessee.

“That changed the dynamics of the game,” Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. “You know, Owen got a piece of him and hit the quarterback, and that helped. He got pressure on the quarterback and hit him, and then Smoke stepped in front. He got a good block there on the 20-yard line or 30-yard line, and he went house call with it. You know, that was really the key play of the game that changed the whole dynamics and gave us some breathing room and gave us some confidence.”

As soon as Monday intercepted Guarantano, the team set up to block and clear a path for him to find the end zone.

The 100-yard pick-six was almost stopped but not because of a Volunteers defender, but fellow safety Jamien Sherwood nearly tripped up Monday.

“He started running, I caught up to him, tried to throw a block for him and I got in the way and almost knocked him over. Thank God I didn’t,” Sherwood said. “But he made a great play and I just couldn’t be happier for him.”

The Auburn defense has seven interceptions through seven games this season, including the Monday 100-yard pick-six and interceptions from Roger McCreary and Nehemiah Pritchett that were initially a touchdown before being called back.

As a defense, the mentality has been to try and score all season long.

“Definitely,” Sherwood said on if that’s the defense’s mentality. “We want to score on defense. You know, you don’t always have to put the ball in the offense's hands. It was a close game at one point but at the end of the day, defense can score too.”

Even when McCreary intercepted one at Ole Miss and made what he admitted to be a mistake taking it out of the end zone, Monday knew he was housing his interception.

“No, no. No. Not once,” Monday said on if he thought about kneeling it. “Once the ball was in my hands, I knew I was going to the end zone.”

In the end, the play was a 14-point swing that marked a clear turning point within the game.

Monday knew the importance of holding Tennessee, and he did more than that.

“Man, I just knew my guys were fighting, fighting the whole drive, so I knew as the man I am, I had to make the play, so that’s what I did," Monday said.