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A spirit that is not afraid

Consistency issues loom as Auburn drops sixth straight to Georgia

Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford (9) sits on the bench in the fourth quarter of a game against Georgia in Sanford Stadium on Oct. 8, 2022.
Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford (9) sits on the bench in the fourth quarter of a game against Georgia in Sanford Stadium on Oct. 8, 2022.

Auburn fell to Georgia for the sixth consecutive time after a 42-10 loss to the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga. on Saturday, despite scoring in the second half for the first time since the Penn State game.

Jarquez Hunter broke off a 62-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter, a small piece of progress that came too late. Auburn opened the second half with a field goal after Colby Wooden sacked Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, forced a fumble and recovered it, all in one play.

Hunter’s touchdown was Auburn’s first second-half touchdown against an SEC team since Tank Bigsby scored a late touchdown in Auburn’s home loss to Mississippi State last year.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the second-half scoring came with the game out of reach as mistakes plagued Auburn all afternoon.

“The key to having a successful game is being consistent throughout the game,” said head coach Bryan Harsin. “You want to have some kind of consistency, and I think that’s the biggest challenge for us right now and the most frustrating thing is we’re not.”

On a crucial third down trailing 14-0, quarterback Robby Ashford exploded up the middle, bound to pick up a massive gain plus the first down but dropped the ball without getting hit by a Georgia player. The Bulldogs fell on it and not only took over possession, but took over the entire game as well.

Prior to the turnover, Georgia scored two touchdowns where it started the scoring drive inside the Auburn 40-yard line.

Knotted at zero, Auburn got risky and called a fake punt on its own side of the field on fourth-and-6. Tight end John Samuel Shenker was stopped well short, and Georgia made the Tigers pay by scoring seven plays later to take the first lead of the game.

Harsin defended the play call by saying his goal with the trick play was “to absolutely try to create a spark.”

Georgia scored again on its next drive after Ladd McConkey returned an Auburn punt to the Tigers’ 31-yard line to extend the lead.

The Bulldogs only drove a combined 67 yards between the two scoring drives, thanks to the great field position.

Auburn safety Zion Puckett believed that despite being backed up, the defense still failed to do its job.

“When you get field position like that, you just gotta have something in you and just be able to stop somebody,” Puckett said. “It doesn’t matter where they get the ball at. Our job is to not let them pass the goal line.”

Auburn held Georgia to just 143 yards of offense in the first half, and Stetson Bennett, who was third in the SEC in passing yards per game (342.8 yards/game), only tossed for 25 yards in that half.

But the crucial turnover mixed with Auburn’s eight penalties kept the Tigers scoreless through their eight first-half drives. Dating back to the LSU games where Auburn did not score on its final eight drives, Auburn went 16 consecutive possessions without scoring a point.

The second half painted a different picture for the Auburn defense, as Georgia recorded 357 yards in the third and fourth quarter alone with 174 of those coming on the ground at 7.6 yards per carry.

Harsin said he noticed the defense got "a little" fatigued in the second half and lost sight of its goals.

“You want to be in a game where you can somewhat control the run and try to balance the offense out,” Harsin said. “But when the score starts getting to what it is, you know the other team is going to run it, and they can have their variety of plays they want to run.

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With the loss, Auburn fell to 3-3 on the season, and Harsin’s record while head coach at Auburn fell to 9-10.

Auburn is on the road again next week against Ole Miss. The game kickoffs at 11 a.m. CST and will be broadcast on ESPN.


Jacob Waters | Sports Reporter

Jacob is a sophomore from Leeds, Alabama. This is his second year with The Auburn Plainsman. 

Twitter: @JacobWaters_


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