After coming up short between the hedges, the Auburn Tigers Football team (7-4) prepares for its biggest rivalry game: the Iron Bowl.
The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders holding the Bulldogs to negative four yards in three plays on its first possession. The Tiger offense scored touchdowns on its first two possessions to make it 14-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter.
"I'm very proud of our team," said head coach Gene Chizik. "We just kept coming at them and coming back after jumping off to a quick start. This one is a tough one to handle tonight."
The Bulldogs scored 17 unanswered points from which Auburn was never able to recover.
Auburn tied the game at 17 after a 37-yard kick from junior kicker Wes Byrum with 2:08 left in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Georgia senior quarterback Joe Cox threw a 47-yard pass to junior split end Tavarres King to set up a 11-yard touchdown run by sophomore tailback Caleb King.
On the pursuing kickoff, junior defensive back Demond Washington took it 99 yards for the sixth longest kickoff return in Auburn history to tie the game at 24.
The Bulldogs scored the game's final points on Caleb King's 24-yard run with 6:52 left in the game to go up 31-24.
"It was a tough loss, but we'll be ready for Alabama," Washington said.
Auburn is fifth in the nation in total yards of offense with 4,856 yards, averaging 441.5 and ranks sixth in the nation in total rushing yards with 1,209. Senior running back Ben Tate ranks eighth in the nation and second in the Southeastern Conference in total rushing.
The Tigers have their first bye week after practicing and playing for 15 straight weeks.
"We have to stay smart on how to give rest and still stay sharp for Alabama," Chizik said. "We need to be smart about it and that is something that we'll look at tomorrow. They are going to take a few days off, and we need that."
The series between the two teams began Feb. 22, 1983 when Auburn defeated Alabama. The teams did not play from 1907 to 1948 because of heavy disputes. Both schools shot down the idea of having a football game until the Alabama House of Representatives wrote a resolution in 1947 encouraging the two schools to once again play against one another. Auburn President Ralph B. Draughon and Alabama President John Gallalee came to an agreement to once again let the teams play.
This year's Iron Bowl is the 74th of the series with Alabama leading 39-33-1. The game marks the 20th anniversary of Alabama playing in Jordan-Hare stadium for the first time ever. Auburn won the game 30-20.
The game is Friday, Nov. 27, at 1:30 p.m. CDT and will be televised on CBS.
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