ATHENS, GA. - No. 7 Auburn headed into Sanford Stadium on Saturday, hoping to win in Athens, Georgia, for the first time since 2005.
The Tigers will have to wait for another opportunity in Athens as Auburn fell short to No. 4 Georgia 27-6 on Saturday. Auburn falls to 1-1 on the season with the loss.
“This will be a learning experience for our team,” Malzahn said. “I will say this -- we will continue to get better. We’ll learn from this. We got eight SEC games left. I think we have the potential to have a lot of improvement. We will improve.”
The Bulldogs came out of the gate early with a potent rushing attack leading the way as the Bulldogs rushed for 130 yards with two rushing touchdowns in the first half.
The Bulldogs were led by running back Zamir White, who rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts. While through the air, Georgia was quarterbacked by Stetson Bennett, who finished 17-of-28 with 240 yards and a touchdown.
Auburn safety Jamien Sherwood who led the team in tackles with 14 total tackles, felt like the Tigers played the pass well but had issues with the run.
“In the first half they hit us with some pass concepts, so our halftime adjustments were focused on working on those concepts, Sherwood said. “I would say that we played the pass pretty well, they hit a few big plays, but I just think they did a great job running the ball. They played a great game.”
While Georgia used its running game to get off to an early advantage, Auburn struggled to move the ball in the first half with 81 yards of total offense. The second half was not much better for Auburn as the Tigers finished with 135 yards of total offense.
The issues for Auburn’s offense started in the trenches with the offensive line. The Tigers offensive line had trouble containing the Georgia defense allowing three sacks.
The Tigers were also limited in the run game, finishing with 22 carries for 39 yards.
The 24-3 deficit at halftime forced Auburn to rely heavier on its passing attack in the second half. The Tigers rushed for just 12 yards in the second half while passing for 123 yards.
Auburn quarterback Bo Nix was 21-of-41 with 177 yards and an interception on the day.
“Georgia is a really good team,” Nix said. “We knew they were going to be a good team coming into the game. We knew we were going to have to play really well. Georgia played just as good as they could play. We played as bad as we could have played. It showed on the field. We just got beat.”
Auburn’s defense played better in the second half holding Georgia to 154 yards and three points, but the game was mostly out of reach by halftime.
The Tigers will head home to Jordan-Hare to host Arkansas (1-1) next Saturday at 3 p.m. CST. The game will be on the SEC Network.
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Jake Weese, senior in journalism with a minor in history, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
