The Tigers showed promise in their opening drive against the Bulldogs. The march included three straight third down conversions and a 26-yard touchdown run by Cameron Artis-Payne to give the Tigers an early lead.
However, that touchdown would be Auburn's only score of the evening as Georgia would go on to win 34-7 in the lowest-scoring performance under head coach Gus Malzahn.
"I'm disappointed," Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said," We didn't get it done. Really at every spot, we didn't get it done so we're very disappointed. Obviously as coaches we're disappointed and our players are disappointed that they didn't get it done."
The Tigers turned the ball over three times in the game, handing the momentum over to a surging Georgia team on their home field.
"At the end of the day, they kicked our tail and that's just the reality of it," Lashlee said. "We didn't get it done and they beat us."
The offensive line struggled as the SEC's leading rusher Artis-Payne was held to just 86-yards on 20 carries. Georgia dominated Auburn at the line of scrimmage taking the offense out of its rhythm.
"Well, we still lead the league in rushing and we've been running the ball pretty well," Lashlee said. "Saturday we just didn't get it done so we've got to work on fixing that this week."
The pass protection wasn't much better for the Tigers as Nick Marshall was under pressure for most of the game in his return to Athens. Marshall completed 11 passes for 112-yards, and interception, finishing with a QBR of 40.6.
Now out of the SEC West race, Lashlee and the Tigers will look to their seniors on the offensive side of the ball for leadership as the regular season winds down.
"You look at Nick at quarterback, Reese (Dismukes) at center. Those are the first two who come to mind," Lashlee said. "Someone like a Cameron Artis-Payne is not going to say a lot, but I thought his play spoke fine. He played hard and played well. A guy like C.J. (Uzomah) is a senior. You know, you look at your older guys and some of your juniors that have been there. But just as a collective whole as a group, you've got to bounce back.
Although disappointed, Lashlee knows that there is still more football to be played.
"Like I said, we're going to find a lot about what we're made of and how we respond. Last week was very disappointing and this week was extremely disappointing. It's all about how we respond. As coaches, we've got to respond well if we want our players to respond well. We've still got plenty to play for."
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