Philip Pierre-Louis returns for Auburn

Philip Pierre-Louis’ yearlong journey from a shredded knee and off-field problems that put him at the bottom of Gene Chizik’s depth chart ended in Rocky Top.

The redshirt freshman dressed out for the first time since the 2008 season opener, wearing a new number (42) than when Auburn fans last saw him more than 400 days ago.

Pierre-Louis, a speedy wide receiver by trade, was back returning punts on Auburn’s second return of the game. He didn’t field that one and fair caught the next two.

He made his first return midway through the second quarter, taking it for 1 yard.

Pierre-Louis emerged as an instant Tommy Tuberville favorite and was the talk of 2008’s preseason camp. But on the opening kickoff of the season against Louisiana Monroe, Pierre-Louis went down with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was lost for the season.

From there, his path was even more arduous.

Pierre-Louis returned for spring practice but was limited in what he could do, wearing an orange non-contact jersey throughout its entirety. He received little sympathy from wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor, who first coined “you can’t make the club in the tub” when discussing Pierre-Louis.

Pierre-Louis was then non-existent throughout two-a-days because of “personal reasons,” Taylor said in August. He returned, as promised by Chizik, on the first day of Auburn’s fall semester.

Before Saturday, he had yet to appear on the sidelines for a game and was considered a “day-by-day” decision by Chizik.

Requests to interview Pierre-Louis have not been granted since April.

Anthony Gulley was back to return Tennessee’s first punt of the game. He came into the game with the most returns of the four Auburn had used this season but lost a fumble and muffed another against Ball State.

Isom out again
Offensive guard Byron Isom did not make the trip to Knoxville, missing his second consecutive game during an indefinite suspension.

Junior Bart Eddins made his first career start in Isom’s place. Freshman John Sullen started for Isom against Ball State.

Isom was suspended for a violation of team rules, Chizik said last week. He has no timetable for a return.

McFadden goes down
Cornerback Walt McFadden went down with an apparent ankle injury late in the first quarter.

McFadden had his right ankle catch in the dirt while trying to tackle Tennessee tailback Monterio Hardesty. After lying on the field for a couple minutes, McFadden was helped off the field by Auburn trainers.

McFadden returned on Tennessee’s last offensive series of the first half.

Dressed out
Quarterback Barrett Trotter, who did not practice the entire preseason and was expected to miss the entire 2009 season, dressed out for the first time Saturday.

Trotter injured his knee during the second-to-last practice of the spring. A handful of news outlets reported Trotter tore his ACL, but Chizik has yet to confirm that.

Trotter spent Saturday’s game like he has the first four games, flipping numbers on Gus Malzahn’s play board.

Todd has a first
Quarterback Chris Todd has broken a number of personal records so far this season, but he added another bullet point to his resume in the first quarter Saturday.

Todd kicked his first career punt when the Tigers faced 4th-and-7 on Tennessee’s 38-yard line. After the Tigers audibled into the formation, Todd kicked it into the end zone for a touchback.

So crowded
Saturday’s paid attendance of 102,941 marked the third-largest crowd to watch an Auburn football game and the largest since the 2004 game at Tennessee.

Moving on up
With his 89 rushing yards in the first half, Ben Tate passed Stacy Danley (1987-90) for eighth on Auburn’s all-time rushing list. Tate now has 2,460 career rushing yards. Ronnie Brown sits at seventh with 2,707 yards.

By The Numbers
25 – Tennessee yards of offense in the first quarter after the first play from scrimmage, a 41-yard rush by Nu’Keese Richardson
4 – number of third-down conversions allowed by the Auburn defense
20 – consecutive Auburn wins with Gene Chizik as a member of the staff
207 – Auburn points to date, just one shy of last year’s total.