ATHENS, Ga. - Auburn (2-4, 0-3) visited Athens to take on the fifth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1), falling in an upset bid that fell short by a score of 31-13. A competitive first half was followed by a second half where Georgia was able to reestablish themselves as the favorite in the annual rendition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
“Today is another step not in the direction we had hoped” Auburn Head Coach Hugh Freeze said “We have to coach them harder.”
Auburn found success on the ground on the offensive side of the ball. Jarquez Hunter carved himself out a nice performance in the loss. He had 13 carries for 91 yards as the Tiger’s leading rusher. He also tacked on a 30-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to four early in the second half.
Payton Thorne was efficient and did enough to keep the Tigers in the game in the first half. He was 7-10 for 80 yards at the half but was sacked twice. In the second half, he was efficient, ending the game 16-27 for 200 yards. On the first drive of the second half, Thorne began to use his legs more which opened the Auburn playbook and led to a touchdown on the drive, Sacks was removed, he rushed for 46 yards.
It is worth noting the play of KeAndre Lambert-Smith who was a bright spot on the Auburn offense that could not find its way in the end zone more than once, Lambert-Smith ended the game with seven catches for 95 yards.
The Auburn defense looked good, holding a dynamic Georgia attack to 31 points with three coming in junk time, but could they not get enough help from the offense to pull off the upset.. Perhaps the defensive player of the game for Auburn was Dorian Mausi who himself had six tackles with eight total and a TFL. Keldric Faulk also had an incredible day with seven tackles and two sacks.
“Can't say enough about Keldric Faulk” Freeze said. “He's everything you want in a leader and an Auburn man.”
On the Georgia side of the ball, the offense started slow but got going quickly, preseason Heisman candidate Carson Beck led the Dawgs in their attack as he threw for 240 yards and completed 23 of his 28 passes for two touchdowns and a rating of 171.6.
Trevor Etienne also showed up for Georgia in a performance to match the incredible day of Jarquez Hunter. Etienne ended the day with 88 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns. Etienne was dynamic in his performance adding 36 yards on six catches in the win.
“I'm proud of Jarquez. I love his effort, he's never going to quit” Coach Freeze said. “Always going to practice hard”
A positive note for the Tigers was their ability to take care of the football. No turnovers today was a huge factor in their ability to keep themselves within striking distance, however not being able to generate turnover was an unfortunate reality for the Tiger defense despite their overall solid game.
Auburn still made mistakes that were costly to them and contributed again to the team not being successful, for example on the first drive of the game with 12 men on the field the Tigers gave the Bulldogs a first down that turned a three and out to a touchdown for Georgia.
The Tigers have a bye week and will be back in action Saturday, October 19 in a visit to Columbia for a clash with Missouri.
