UGA Football Dominated 4th Quarter In Heart-Racing 27-20 Win Over Auburn
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AUBURN, AL - Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs survive a wild game against their SEC West rival today.
In a game that Auburn could’ve won, Brock Bowers and the Bulldog defense stepped up with the game on the line and punched Auburn in the face in the 4th quarter.
Heere are some news and notes from Georgia’s heart-pumping victory...
*Extending The Streaks: With today’s 27-20 win, top-ranked Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) has extended its school record for consecutive victories now to 22. The streak began during the 2021 season (Dec. 31) when the Bulldogs beat #2 Michigan 34-11 in a CFP semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.
*The Bulldogs extended their school record for consecutive regular season wins to 32, which leads all of FBS, and is the second longest active streak in the NCAA behind DIII Mount Union (58 straight). This Georgia streak began during the 2020 season with a 31-24 win over Miss. State. on Nov. 21.
*Georgia now has won 21 regular season SEC games in a row dating to a 31-24 win over Miss. State on Nov. 21, 2020. The school record is 23, set during a stretch from 1980-83.
*TIght Contests & Series History: With today’s win, Georgia now holds a 64-56-8 edge in the series history including winning the past seven meetings. It’s the longest streak of success since the record nine-game streak from 1923-31. Today marked the 12th win for the Bulldogs in the Kirby Smart ear when Georgia entered the fourth quarter either tied or trailing late. In 2016, the UGA-AU game was tied 7-all entering the 4th and the Bulldogs won 13-7. The last time Georgia and an opponent was tied entering the 4th quarter that the Bulldogs won came in the overtime Rose Bowl win over No. 2 Oklahoma in the 2017 season. It was 31-all and Georgia won 54-48 in 2OT. Today was only the third in the Smart era that a game was tied at halftime. Georgia is now 2-1 in these games.
*Inside The SEC Numbers: Through two SEC games this year, Georgia’s average margin of victory is 8.5 points. The past two years, Georgia has posted back-to-back 8-0 marks in SEC action with the average margin of victory of 25.5 (2022) and 31.9 (2021).
*Bowers Moving Up In the Bulldog Record Book: Junior TE Brock Bowers had a team-best nine catches for a career-high 157 yards with 1 TD and it covered 40 yards and put Georgia in front for good at 27-20 in the fourth quarter. He has nine career games with 100+ rec. Yards.
He has 23 career TD catches which is third in school history. His 2,237 receiving yards ranks eighth in school history.
*Offensive Summary: Junior QB Carson Beck finished 23-for-33 for 313 yards with one TD and one INT in the win. On the 2nd possession of the game, Beck threw his 2nd INT of the year as AU got it at the UGA48 and the Tigers turned it into a TD and a 10-0 lead. On Georgia’s next possession, Beck directed an 11-play 56-yard drive in 5:11 to trim the deficit to 10-7. After the defense held the Tigers, Georgia’s fourth possession resulted in a game-tying 37-yard field goal by Peyton Woodring culminating a 10-play, 61-yard drive in 3:55.
For the 2nd time this year, Georgia had a 98-yard TD drive (UT-Martin). Today’s covered 10 plays in 4:24 to tie the contest at 17.
On the next possession, Georgia started at the nine and went 71 yards before Woodring made a 38-yard field goal for a 20-17 edge.
Georgia took its first lead with 10:57 left in the contest today (20-17).
The game was tied at 20 with 6:21 left. Then, the Bulldogs went ahead 27-20 with a 75-yard drive on seven plays capped by a Brock Bowers 40-yard catch in 3:29 with 2:52 left in the contest. It gave Bowers a career-high 157 receiving yards and 9th career 100+ yard game.
Senior RB Daijun Edwards had 76 yards on 19 carries and two TDs while sophomore Dillon Bell had 25 rushing yards on four carries.
Georgia’s longest play of the first half was a 41-yard kickoff return by redshirt sophomore Mekhi Mews that helped setup the first TD. He came in averaging 30.8 yards per KOR this season and finished today with three for 80 yards.
Georgia had two turnovers (INT, Fumble) that led to two TDs.
*Red Zone Report: Georgia went 4-for-4 (2TDs, 2FGs) in the Red Zone while AU went 3-for-4 (2TDs, FG, Downs). Coming in today, Georgia was 19-for-22 in the Red Zone with 15 TDs while opponents were 7-for-8 with 6 TDs.
*Defensive Review: AU finished with 307 yards on 63 plays. The Tigers were the first team since LSU (275 yards) in 2018 to rush for at least 200 yards against the Bulldogs as they had 219. The Tigers became the first team this season to score on the Bulldogs in the third quarter, going 32 yards for a TD following a turnover.
With the game tied at 10, Auburn went for a 4th-and-1 at the UGA 12 and was stopped led by junior Jamon Dumas-Johnson.
Leading tacklers: Juniors Smael Mondon tied career high with 11 plus a sack while Javon Bullard had a career-high 9.
Senior Tykee Smith had his first sack of the year and second of his career plus made three tackles including 1.5 TFL.
Redshirt sophomore Xavian Sorey notched his first career sack and had two tackles.
Auburn QB Peyton Thorne had a 61-yard keeper to the UGA 30, the longest rush and play by an opponent this season.
Auburn turned two turnovers into 14 points as those drives covered just 32 and 48 yards.
Sophomore Malaki Starks sealed the victory with his 2nd INT of the year on a 4th-and-9 at the AU 48. He made five tackles.
*Captains, Coin Toss and For Starters: Senior Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint (WR), junior center Sedrick Van Pran (C) plus juniors Jamon Dumas-Johnson (ILB) and Kamari Lassiter (CB) served as the game captains. Georgia won the toss and elected to defer the ball.
Junior Ladd McConkey (WR) saw his first action of the season while junior Javon Bullard (DB) started after missing the past two games. Van Pran made his team-leading 35th career start.
*Honoring #77 Devin Willock: Redshirt sophomore Dylan Fairchild (LG), normally #53, wore #77 today in honor of his late teammate Devin Willock. A different Bulldog offensive lineman will be wearing #77 each game this season.
*Up Next: Top-ranked Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) plays host to Kentucky (5-0, 2-0 SEC) Saturday, Oct. 7 at 7 pm ET (ESPN). Earlier today, the Wildcats posted a 33-14 home victory over No. 22 Florida.