This time, there was no prayer at Jordan-Hare as the No. 2-ranked Georgia Bulldogs continued their dominance of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with a 34-10 victory over Auburn on the Tigers’ home field.
The win was Georgia’s fifth in a row in the 126-game history of the series, one of the oldest in the SEC.
Quarterback Stetson Bennett, filling in for injured starter JT Daniels, continued to come through for the Bulldogs. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound redshirt senior was 14 of 20 for 231 yards passing and two touchdowns against the Tigers. Bennett added 41 yards, including 30 yards on a critical third-quarter play. He improved to 8-2 as Georgia’s primary quarterback.
Zamir White scored two touchdowns as led the Bulldogs with 79 of 201 rushing yards.
Georgia sacked Auburn’s elusive quarterback Bo Nix four times and limited the Tigers to 318 total yards, 46 rushing. The Tigers fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in SEC play.
Bennett and freshman Ladd McConkey hooked up for 60-yard touchdown pass at 6:01 mark of the third quarter that proved to be a critical play in the game. McConkey finished with 135 yards on five receptions.
It proved to be an important score as the Tigers immediately went back down the field and scored on their ensuing possession. Nix completed back-to-back passes for 31 and 26 yards to Caylin Newton and Demetris Robertson, which quickly got Auburn down to the Georgia 15. On third-and-1from the 6, Auburn’s Tank Bigsby scooted outside left from a scrum in the middle of the line and shook a tackle attempt for a touchdown. It was the first touchdown given up by the Bulldogs since South Carolina scored on a 36-yard pass in the fourth quarter of a Georgia blowout on Sept. 18.
The touchdown reignited the sellout Jordan-Hare crowd, and the momentum shifted hard to the Tigers’ sideline. That made the Bulldogs’ ensuing offensive possession critical.
Georgia came through. Specifically, Stetson Bennett.
The Bulldogs faced third-and-2 at the Auburn 42. That’s when Bennett decided to keep the ball on a zone-read play and rambled 31 yards down to the Auburn 11. Ultimately, Georgia was unable to put the ball in the Tigers’ end zone, but Jack Podlesny’s 21-yard field goal gave the Bulldogs a three-score lead, 27-10, with 14:52 to play.
That would prove to be plenty as Georgia’s defense came up with its biggest play of the game next. The Tigers faced third-and-4 at their 31-yard line when the Bulldogs called an all-out blitz. Linebacker Quay Walker got through the middle clean and dropped Nix for a 15-yard loss.
Taking over at their 36 on the ensuing possession, Georgia used 10 running plays to effectively put the game away. The last run came on third-and-2 at the 10, and Zamir White broke the tackle attempt of Auburn linebacker Zakoby McClain two yards deep in the backfield and burst through the middle of the line for a back-breaking touchdown. The PAT made it 34-10 with 7:11 to play.
That gave the Bulldogs over 400 yards for the day, gave White 79 yards rushing and sent most of the 87,000 fans in attendance scurrying for the exits.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 6-0 on the season, 4-0 in SEC and head back to Athens to prepare for a homecoming matchup against No. 16 Kentucky. The Wildcats (5-0, 3-0) were playing LSU late Saturday night.
Georgia’s defense did an exemplary job of keeping Auburn’s mobile quarterback at bay. Nix was sacked four times and finished with minus-16 yards rushing.
Georgia carried a 17-3 into the locker room at halftime. But the Bulldogs were quite fortunate to hold the Tigers scoreless in the first-half’s final minute.
Auburn’s impressive two-minute drive at the end of the second quarter got it down to the Georgia 7. On third-and-goal, running back Shaun Shivers dropped Nix’s pass, which may or may not have been enough for a first down. It appeared that the Tigers were going to settle for a chip-shot field goal with 51 seconds remaining in the half. But Georgia’s Derion Kendrick jumped offsides before the attempt.
Given half the distance and another few seconds to think it over, Auburn coach Bryan Harsin decided to go the touchdown from the Georgia 3. With lots of contact on both sides, Georgia’s Latavious Brini knocked away the pass for Ze’Vian Capers in the back of the end zone. So Auburn came away empty with just 40 seconds remaining in the first half.
Auburn took the opening kickoff and immediately got on the move. With one third-down, two fourth-down conversions, and a personal-foul penalty on Georgia’s Nolan Smith, the Tigers drove all the down to the Georgia 9.
On second-and-goal, it appeared that the Bulldogs had gotten a takeaway when Nix was pressured and the ball came free. Georgia’s Kelee Ringo scooped up the loose ball and it appeared the Bulldogs were going to take over at the 17. But video review resulted in an intentional grounding call on Nix and the Tigers retained possession. They got on the scoreboard with a 24-yard field goal at the 8:17 mark of the first quarter after a 17-play possession.
Georgia did come away with a turnover on Auburn’s second offensive possession. On third down, Nix tried to hit Shaun Shivers with a short pass in the left flat. But the hard-thrown ball bounced off Shivers’ hands and Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean was able to pluck the ball out of air before it hit the ground. The Bulldogs took over at the Auburn 26 with 5:14 remaining in the first.
Georgia got down to the Tigers’ 5, but Bennett’s third-down pass for Adonai Mitchell was wide and the Bulldogs had to settle for 23-yard Podlesny field goal that tied the game at 3-all with 2:55 left in the first.
After forcing Auburn’s first punt of the day, Georgia’s offense finally got on the move. Helped by two major penalties — an interference call on Auburn’s Roger McCreary and a targeting disqualification for safety Smoke Monday — the Bulldogs ended up with first-and-goal at the 1. Zamir White dove over the top at left guard to give Georgia a 10-3 lead just 21 seconds into the second quarter.
The Bulldogs added to their lead on their next possession, which featured a 45-yard pass to McConkey and 25-yarder to tight end Darnell Washington. McConkey’s catch set up first-and-goal at the 7, and Georgia scored on Bennett’s play-action pass for Mitchell in the left flat.
