Georgia bullies Auburn football, deflates Jordan-Hare Stadium after competitive start
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AUBURN — Jordan-Hare Stadium was trembling. Cam Newton was bellowing. Bruce Pearl was stripping. Bryan Harsin was gambling. Bo Nix was dealing.
Auburn was believing.
But Georgia is the bully that silences believers, the monster that turns dreams into nightmares.
Auburn's dream of an upset struggled to be rekindled after those glorious first few minutes Saturday, when the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry briefly felt evenly matched.
The Tigers gave No. 2 Georgia its first deficit of the 2021 season but played from behind the remainder of the afternoon in a 34-10 loss. Auburn (4-2, 1-1 SEC) had bright spots and blunders; it had the first touchdown scored on Georgia (6-0, 4-0) in 171 minutes of game time and a number of missed opportunities that could have kept an upset realistic.
Here are five observations from the loss.
Drought punctuated by missed opportunities
Against a historic Georgia defense that was allowing 13 yards per drive, Auburn managed 17 plays and 68 yards in the game's clock-eating opening possession. The Dawgs looked mortal.
Then, the next five possessions and change: 19 plays, 29 yards of offense. Georgia imposed its will.
The drought ended when Bo Nix found tight end John Samuel Shenker for a third-and-10 conversion late in a first half that was bookended by promising drives and missed opportunities. That inspiring first possession fizzled inside the 10 and became a short field goal. And after Nix's conversion to Shenker on the final series, Auburn converted another third down to former Georgia receiver Demetris Robertson but eventually faced a fourth-and-goal at the 8.
Georgia jumped offside before the field goal attempt. Trailing 17-3 against a defense that seldom allows such chances, Bryan Harsin sent out the offense for fourth-and-3. Auburn had converted two fourth downs on the opening drive. This time, Georgia locked down every receiver, and Nix's throw to Ze'Vian Capers fell controversially incomplete.
A deflating loss on defense
One series after bringing a third-down blitz that forced an incompletion and a short Georgia field goal, Auburn safety Smoke Monday was again involved in an important play inside the 10-yard line.
This time, he went helmet-to-helmet with Stetson Bennett for a targeting penalty that ejected him. Georgia scored the game's first touchdown on the next play, and the air was let out of Jordan-Hare for the first time. Auburn had escaped the first quarter tied 3-3. The defense had forced a three-and-out to start the game.
Auburn missed Monday and other defensive starters dearly on the next series. The Bulldogs went 78 yards on six plays for another touchdown, opening up a 17-3 lead. Auburn has fallen behind by double digits in four consecutive games.
Slowing the run not enough
Auburn game-planned to shut down the Bulldogs' run game, upon which they have heavily leaned, especially when Bennett is at quarterback. But the backup adjusted accordingly with Georgia's offense, and Auburn gave Bennett the game of his life: 14-for-21 with 231 yards and two touchdowns, unexpectedly beating the Tigers downfield.
The biggest gut punch was delivered in the third quarter. Auburn had luck on its side after Georgia missed a field goal to keep it 17-3. But the Tigers failed another fourth down, and Bennett found Ladd McConkey on the next play for a 60-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.
SCORE PREDICTION: Scouting report: Georgia is good at ... everything. Where can Auburn football find hope?
Drawing from experience, dropping passes
Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo opted for reactionary play-calling based on Auburn's win at LSU. Quick passes to running back Shaun Shivers converted late third downs to aid the Tigers' game-winning drive in that game. So Bobo poured it on heavy with Shivers against Georgia.
One problem: He couldn't catch the ball. Nobody could for Auburn.
A third-and-2 pass bounced off Shivers' hands in the first quarter and turned into Nix's first interception of the season. (He went a school-record 256 passes without a pick.)
Shenker dropped a pass in the end zone that would've given Auburn a 7-0 lead. Instead, 3-0. Shedrick Jackson let a perfect third-and-10 throw slip through his hands. Georgia is elite, but Auburn lacked play-calling answers and made unforced drops.
A positive footnote
Nix finished 21-for-38 with 217 yards, but he threw some dimes and made a few marvelous plays with his feet. Georgia had him suffocated all day. His receivers dropped passes.
But trailing 24-3 in the third quarter, he still led that elusive touchdown drive that ended with a Tank Bigsby punch-in. It was the first red-zone touchdown Georgia has allowed.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn gets bullied by the Georgia Bulldogs after fleeting hope dashed
