Auburn was either tied or leading for the first 49 minutes and three seconds Saturday afternoon against Georgia, but a late offensive surge from Brock Bowers and Georgia handed Auburn a heartbreaking loss in the 128th edition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
“I'm really really proud of our kids, but it hurts in there right now,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze. “And that's good to see. It hurts those kids and our coaches and our fans I'm sure too. You have a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country and back-to-back national champions at home, and the feeling that you get if you can pull that off is ecstatic and you can certainly build off of that. And hopefully we can build off the way we played better today, but it hurts and it’s disappointing that we didn't find a way to get it done today.”
Auburn came out energized and, riding the noise from the Jordan-Hare Stadium crowd, jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead. Auburn drove 84 yards on its second drive of the game, spearheaded by a 61-yard run from quarterback Payton Thorne, and kicked a field goal to get on the scoreboard first. On the ensuing Georgia possession, Auburn safety Jaylin Simpson intercepted a pass from quarterback Carson Beck, who was making his first collegiate road start. Simpson’s interception was his fourth of the 2023 season and seventh of his career.
With the ball on Georgia’s side of the field, Auburn ran seven plays and accumulated 48 yards in a touchdown-scoring drive, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown run from running back Jarquez Hunter. By the end of the first quarter, Auburn already had 109 yards rushing to its name and finished the game with 219 yards rushing at 5.1 yards per carry and two touchdowns.
“Coming into the game, we knew we had to be the more physical team, and it started with the O-line and I feel like they did that,” said running back Brian Battie. “They went from first punching the D-line in the mouth. Tight ends punching their linebackers in the mouth. I feel like running backs, we ran the ball pretty well. We could have done better, but overall played a good game.”
Georgia and Auburn traded blows over the second and third quarter, creating a 17-17 game heading into the fourth.
Georgia struck first in the final quarter with a 38-yard field goal to take its first lead of the game, but Auburn responded on the very next drive with its own field goal from Alex McPherson.
With just over six minutes remaining, the young quarterback Beck got the ball back and delivered a scoring drive that eventually served as the game-winning drive. Beck threw for 78 yards, threw one touchdown pass and converted a third-and-12 over the drive, constantly hitting Georgia tight end Bowers — who finished with 157 yards receiving and one touchdown.
“You see why he’s an All-American,” said defensive lineman Marcus Harris. “I say we still had a couple of mistakes in the back end and in communication.”
Harris had one of his best games in an Auburn uniform — finishing with seven tackles, two tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one forced fumble. Harris was just one of a few defensive players who had big games as linebackers Larry Nixon III and Eugene Asante had eight and seven tackles, respectively. Jalen McLeod recorded two quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery, and Simpson had the interception in the first quarter.
Auburn got the ball back after the Bulldog touchdown, but was unable to capitalize, turning the ball over on fourth-and-9 with just over one minute left to effectively end the chance of a massive upset. The final drive cemented a rough day for the Tigers regarding converting third and fourth downs, as Auburn was 2-for-12 on third downs and 1-for-3 on fourth downs. In comparison, Georgia finished the game 8-of-13 on third downs, with five of those conversions coming in the second half.
“I think you look back at this game, and you look at third downs,” Freeze said. “You look at our third down offense. You look at our third down defense, and I think that’s where the game was lost for us.”
Following the loss, Auburn fell to 3-2 and 0-2 in conference play and has now lost seven straight games against Georgia, the longest streak since the Bulldogs won nine straight from 1923-31.
The Tigers have a bye week next week before going on the road to face LSU in Death Valley on Saturday, Oct. 14. The television information and time of the game have not yet been released.
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Jacob Waters is a senior majoring in journalism. From Leeds, Alabama, he started with The Plainsman in August, 2021.
Twitter: @JacobWaters_
