Tennessee has that Auburn luck but can't afford slow starts going forward

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- There's just something about this Tennessee team. It's loaded with talent, yes, but it has a little bit of magic that another SEC team held so dear just a few years ago.

Could the 2016 Vols be college football's new version of that serendipitous 2013 Auburn team that found itself playing for a national title? It might be too early to slap that label on Tennessee, but it's hard to ignore the similarities with that Tigers team.

That Auburn team waited until the end of the season for its miracle comebacks -- the "Prayer at Jordan Hare" and the "Kick Six" -- but maybe the Vols are getting all of that out right now in order to have a less stressful finish. In Week 1, it was a…