No. 2 Georgia runs away from rival Auburn again. Here are five takeaways

The last time Auburn came between the hedges and won a football game, Kirby Smart was Georgia’s running backs coach and still three years away from being Nick Saban’s defensive coordinator at Alabama.

Smart’s No. 2 Bulldogs Saturday made it eight straight against the Tigers in Sanford Stadium, blowing the game open in the second half en route to a 42-10 victory.

"It got guys’ minds back to where they needed to be," nose guard Zion Logue said. I think it was a great steppingstone for the season.”

Georgia scored 21 straight second-half points to open a 35-3 lead, getting a 64-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run by quarterback Stetson Bennett sandwiched around the second and third scoring runs by Daijun Edwards.

Auburn showing up in Athens turned out to be what a Bulldogs team that had underwhelmed the last two games needed to get back on track. The Tigers last won at Georgia in 2005.

It was the sixth win in a row for Georgia (6-0, 3-0 SEC) against Auburn anywhere and most importantly put the Bulldogs’ season back in a better spot after too-close-for-comfort wins against Kent State and Missouri.

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Auburn (3-3, 1-2 SEC) and embattled coach Bryan Harsin lost for the third time in the last four games with a game at No. 9 Ole Miss next up.

Here are five takeaways:

Auburn Tigers offense doesn't back smack talk

Auburn mustered 258 yards of total offense – its second lowest of the season – three days after Tigers center Brandon Council spoke confidently about denting the Bulldogs' defense.

“You start off fast and run the ball on them and keep them out of their third down packages, really, we can demolish them I believe personally up front,” Council said, according to Auburn 247.

He added that injuries to the defensive line – star defensive tackle Jalen Carter was out with a knee injury – would allow Auburn to run the ball on a tired Georgia defense.

"That was definitely the fuel we needed this week," said Logue who recited the word "demolish," when asked about Council's words.

Athletic quarterback Robby Ashford accounted for 52 of Auburn’s 93 rushing yards. Georgia held Tank Bigbsy to just 19 yards on 510 carries and Jarquez Hunter to 20 yards on 5.

"Strike and attack was our theme all week," Logue said. "We went into the game with that mindset and from the first play, we knew we had to make that happen."

Auburn managed just 88 rushing yards on 23 carries for a 3.8 average.

"You've got to thank those big boys up front striking blocks," outside linebacker Nolan Smith said. "Last week they ran stretch on us really good and we had to go back and fix our errors."

Ashford looked like he had a first down on a run up the middle in the second quarter but he coughed up the ball and Logue was there to recover.

Council on Auburn’s second drive was flagged for a false start.

The Tigers were just 5 of 17 on third down.

Bulldogs ground and pound Tigers

Georgia’s running game got untracked in the fourth quarter against Missouri using gap scheme runs.

The Bulldogs picked up where they left off with having their way on the ground even with Kendall Milton knocked out of the game with a groin injury in the first half.

Daijun Edwards rushed for 83 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns and true freshman Branson Robinson added 98 yards on 12 carries including a 30-yard gain and a touchdown.

Kenny McIntosh’s 1-yard touchdown run on a toss sweep gave the Bulldogs their first score and Edwards added another 1-yard score later in the second quarter.

"We played more physical at the line of scrimmage, and I thought we wore the other team down," Smart said.

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Georgia got extra yards throughout the game on the ground, at times with a little help from their friends. Offensive tackle Amarius Mims and tight end Darnell Washington provided a push of Edwards for an extra 5 yards of a 10-yard second-quarter run who showed good vision to get his early yards on the run.

"He's a flashy guy, a quick guy but powerful at the same time," inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said of Edwards.

Stetson Bennett shakes off slow start in passing game

Bennett took a step back and then ran into the wide-open middle of the field in a play that ended with a 64-yard touchdown run to seal the deal early in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Cam Riley, safety Donovan Kaufman and cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett were all in pursuit.

"I liked the numbers and just took off," Bennett said.

"They ran what we thought they were going to be in and it worked great," Smart said. "It wouldn’t be explosive if it wasn’t for a really good athlete."

It gave Georgia its most rushing yards against a power five conference opponent this season.

Georgia finished with a season-high 292 yards on 39 carries.

"In the fourth quarter, we turned it on," Bennett said. "That’s what happens when you rush for 290 yards. At the end of the game, the guys are going to quit.”

Bennett didn’t need to throw the ball much in the first half with the way Georgia was running the ball, but when it did he couldn’t connect with his pass catchers.

With good field position at its own 46 and 1:17 left in the first half, Bennett sailed a pass to a wide-open Brock Bowers on the right side. He then threw a pass over the middle to Bowers that went off his fingertips. On third down, a throw to Dominick Blaylock on the sideline went incomplete.

Bennett was just 7 of 13 for 25 yards in the half with the longest completion just 7 yards to Darnell Washington.

“The first half was weird," Bennett said. "I hated it, but the second half was better.”

On the first possession of the second half, Bennett was sacked on third down and fumbled and Auburn’s Colby Wooden recovered at the Georgia 19. That led to an Anders Carlson 29-yard field goal to get the Tigers on the scoreboard.

Bennett was coming off his worst game in passing efficiency as a starter (116.8) since 2020 season losses to Florida (80.3) and Alabama (103.0).

He finished 22 of 32 for 208 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions for a 123.4 rating a week after he got knocked around against Missouri.

"I was sore during the week, but that's just when you get hit that many times in an SEC game that's going to happen," said Bennett, who said he did not miss any practice time.

On the second possession of the second half. Bennett connected on a third-and-6 on a throw across the field on the left side to Ladd McConkey for 21 yards. That kept the drive going. The Bulldogs went up 21-3 after a 2-yard Edwards touchdown run with 7:07 left in the third quarter.

Bennett hit Bowers over the middle late in the third quarter for 24 yards. A deep ball for McConkey was just a tad too far.

Bennett improved to 20-3 as a starter at Georgia.

Special teams swing Georgia’s way

Georgia and Auburn were trading punts in the first half when the Tigers’ Harsin tried to do what two opponents had against the Bulldogs this season.

Fake a punt.

Unlike South Carolina and Kent State, this one backfired on a fourth-and-6 at the Auburn 34.

A snap to upback John Samuel Shenker was read well by Smith who grabbed Shenker by the foot for a 2-yard gain.

"They probably had us on the fake," Smart said. "Nolan made a great play. It was one of those times where they didn’t execute but they had a good look and they checked to it."

The Bulldogs got the ball at the Auburn 36 late in the first quarter.

"The last fake punt, that was on me 100 percent," Smith said. "I just took a little bit more pride in that they ran it towards me as a senior. I 100 percent took that to heart."

Georgia took advantage to get in the end zone in 7 plays with the McIntosh touchdown run.

The Bulldogs’ special teams got a boost also from punt returner Ladd McConkey who muffed another punt in the first half that he recovered, but came back and unleashed a career-long 38-yard return to give Georgia the ball at the Tigers’ 31.

"Any time you can make a play on special teams, that's huge," McConkey said. "Having explosive momentum plays on special teams, it definitely gives me confidence and gives my teammates confidence."

That led to the Bulldogs’ second touchdown of the game.

"We worked really hard this week saying we could spark a drive, change field position ...on punt return," Smart said. "I think Ladd will be the first to tell you he’d give a lot of credit to the guys up front who affected the kicker by almost blocking one. It speeds it up. The sooner he kicks it, the sooner it gets to Ladd."

Auburn remains allergic to the end zone in Sanford Stadium

The Tigers haven’t scored more than one touchdown in any game in Athens since 2009.

It scored its only touchdown of this game with 9:51 to go when three Georgia defenders on a pass on the perimeter failed to corral Hunter who went 62 yards for a touchdown on the pass from Ashford.

"We had three guys miss tackles," Smart said. "Just atrocious on the sideline. Atrocious."

It was the first touchdown Auburn had scored in the second, third or fourth quarters since 2009 in any games in Athens.

"Ten points is too much," Dumas-Johnson said. "Nobody should be in our end zone at the end of the day. We did do better today."

Auburn was held to two field goals in a 27-6 loss in 2020 at Georgia.

The Tigers entered 107th in the nation in scoring at 22.4 points per game, scoring 17 points in each of its previous two games to LSU and Missouri (in overtime) and 12 against Penn State.

Georgia didn’t record a sack but constantly got in the backfield, forcing Ashford to chuck the ball away time and again including on a third-and-10 near the end of the third quarter when Bear Alexander was bearing down on him.

Ashford finished 13 of 38 for 165 yards and the TD.

Georgia played without starting inside linebacker Smael Mondon due to an ankle injury. Junior Rian Davis started in his place and had 4 tackles, second most on the day behind Dumas-Johnson’s 5.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football grounds and pounds Auburn in lopsided victory