Tigers topple No. 1 Bulldogs, 27-24

ATHENS, Ga. — Auburn’s Alex McPherson kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Tigers to a 27-24 win over top-ranked Georgia on Saturday afternoon at Sanford Stadium, handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

When the Bulldogs (6-1, 4-1 SEC) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, it looked like the Bulldogs were headed for another rout between the hedges. Instead, a thriller happened.

Auburn scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter to take a 17-14 lead into halftime, added another touchdown in the third, and led 24-14 with 11:58 to play in the third quarter. Georgia then scored 10 straight points to tie the game with 2:58 remaining.

The Bulldogs had the ball with less than two minutes remaining but committed their third turnover of the game, giving the Tigers (4-2, 2-2) the ball back at their 44-yard line with 58 seconds left. Auburn’s victory snapped a nine-game win streak in the series for the Bulldogs.

Georgia outgained Auburn 440-366, but the turnovers proved the difference. Quarterback Gunner Stockton finished 22 of 34 passing for 272 yards, with two touchdown throws and two interceptions. Auburn held the Bulldogs to 113 yards rushing on 28 carries, while Tiger quarterback Byrum Brown was 15 of 26 passing for 150 yards and a touchdown and ran 26 times for 115 yards and a score. Linebackers Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole paced the Georgia defense with 10 tackles each.

Stockton started the game at quarterback, per usual, and ran for 5 yards on the first play from scrimmage. He had to come out of the game due to a medical issue right afterward, so backup Ryan Puglisi came in and completed a screen pass to running back Nate Frazier for 4 yards on the next play. On third-and-1 at the UGA 34, Puglisi threw a deep ball down the left hash to wideout Craig Dandridge Jr. for 41 yards.

On first down at the Auburn 25, Puglisi hit Frazier for 10 yards. Stockton was back in for the next play, handing the ball off to Dwight Phillips, Jr. for a 15-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead with 12:03 left in the opening quarter.

Georgia’s offense was back on the field quickly after the defense forced a Tiger punt, and the Bulldogs drove 89 yards in seven plays for a 14-0 lead. After faking a handoff, Stockton hit a wide-open Lawson Luckie for a 24-yard touchdown on the left sideline with 6:49 left in the quarter.

Auburn got on the scoreboard on its next drive, using a trick play to do it. On second-and-7 on the Georgia 25, wide receiver Christian Neptune threw a pass to Keshaun Singleton for a touchdown, cutting the Bulldog lead to 14-7 with 3:07 remaining in the first.

The Tigers tied the game with 6:32 left in the half on a 9-yard pass from Brown to Chas Nimrod, making it 14-all. Auburn made it 17 unanswered points with a 49-yard field goal by Alex McPherson with 1:20 left in the half, taking a 17-14 lead.

Auburn wasn’t done making plays, intercepting a Stockton deep ball with 1:04 to play in the half. Georgia gained 164 on its first two drives of the game and then was held to 101 over its next four. The Bulldog defense got a sack of Brown for a loss of 4 yards by defensive lineman Anthony Lonon Jr. to force a Tiger punt with 27 seconds to go. At the half, the Tigers led 17-14, while Georgia had a 256-231 advantage in total offense.

The Tigers got the ball to start the second half, and they drove 76 yards in nine plays to take a 24-14 lead. A pass interference call on Georgia when Auburn faced a third-and-10 at the Bulldog 10-yard line gave the Tigers a first down at the 5. Brown ran the ball in on the next play to give Auburn a 10-point lead with 11:28 left in the third. That made it 24 unanswered points for the Tigers since Georgia went ahead 14-0 in the opening quarter.

Georgia drove down to the Tiger 24 on the ensuing possession, but the drive ended with a Stockton interception. Auburn took over at its 26 with 8:13 left in the third quarter. The Bulldog defense answered the call, forcing a three-and-out.

The Bulldogs cut the Auburn lead to 24-17 with 14:15 to play in the game on Peyton Woodring’s 42-yard field goal at the end of a season-high 14-play drive. Later in the fourth, after both defenses got some stops, Georgia started at its 6 with 8:14 remaining, and it drove 94 yards in 13 plays, tying the game on Stockton’s 4-yard touchdown pass to wideout London Humphreys with 2:58 remaining. It was Georgia’s longest drive of the season in terms of yardage, and it tied the game 24-24.

Stockton completed several big passes on the drive, including an 18-yarder to wideout Talyn Taylor on third-and-10 from the UGA 6, and the quarterback also ran for 20 yards to the 4, setting up the tying touchdown.

Georgia got the ball back at its 39 with 1:12, but the drive ended on a Stockton fumble near midfield that the Tigers recovered at their 44 with 58 seconds left. Auburn then drove into field-goal range, and McPherson split the uprights as time ran out.

The Bulldogs are off next Saturday before heading to Atlanta to face Florida at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Oct. 31.

POST-GAME NOTES

*Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry: With today’s 27-24 upset by Auburn, top-ranked Georgia drops to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC. The Bulldogs are now 123-22 overall under Kirby Smart. The Bulldogs saw their nine-game winning streak in the series over AU end today. It was the Tigers first win over Georgia since 2017. Smart is 10-2 against the Tigers and 5-1 in Athens.

*Today was Georgia’s first loss to an unranked team at home since 2019 to South Carolina in double overtime (20-17). The Bulldogs are now 41-5 all-time when ranked No. 1 including 33-3 under Smart.

*Offensive Review: In a 27-24 defeat, Georgia compiled 440 yards of total offense (113-rush, 327-passing) on 65 plays.

*Down 24-17 with 8:14 left, Georgia put together a season-long 94-yard game-tying TD drive on 13 plays. It featured a 3rd-and-10 conversion at the six, connecting with Talyn Taylor on an 18-yard pass to move the chains and eventually capped by a 4-yard TD pass to London Humphreys.

Georgia trailed 24-14 entering the 4th quarter and then trimmed it to 24-17 with 14:15 left and tied the game at 24 with 2:58 remaining

Down 24-14 with 6:17 left in the 3rd quarter, Georgia closed the gap to seven with a 42-yard field goal after a 49-yard drive that lasted 7:02.

In the 1st half, Georgia trailed 17-14, gaining 256 yards on only 27 plays.

*Fifth-year QB Gunner Stockton (22-for-34, 272 yards, 2 TDs, career-high 2 INTs). In the 1st half, he finished 8-for-13 for 141 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. He came out after the first play due to a medical stoppage on a five-yard rush when he landed on his head. Junior Ryan Puglisi entered for the next three plays that featured a 41-yard completion to Craig Dandridge Jr., on a 3rd-an-1. He went 3-for-3 for 55 yards before Stockton returned and finished the scoring drive.

*The 75-yard opening scoring drive on five plays was capped by a 15-yard TD run by Dwight Phillips Jr.

*The second TD drive covered 89 yards on seven plays in 3:25 and ended with a 24-yard TD catch to senior TE Lawson Luckie.

*Georgia had a 14-7 lead after the 1st quarter. This season, Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents 87-14 in the 1st quarter.

*After scoring TDs on its first two possession, the Bulldogs were forced to punt on their next two, gaining just  39 yards on seven plays, and their fifth drive covered 39 yards before ending with a blocked field goal.

*Down 17-14 with 1:20 left in the half, Georgia’s final drive ended with an INT after a 23-yard completion to Dandridge.

*The 2nd quarter marked the first time this year that the Bulldogs failed to score in a quarter, and then AU blanked Georgia in the 3rd quarter too. Overall, Georgia has scored in 25 of 27 quarters this season.

*Defensive Highlights: AU tallied  366 yards of offense (192-rush, 174-pass) on 74 plays in a 27-24 upset of #1 Georgia.

*WIth the game tied at 24 and 2:58 remaining to play, Georgia’s defense stopped AU to give the Bulldogs the ball at the UGA 39 with 1:12 left.

*Up 17-14, AU got the ball to start the 2nd half and marched 76 yards in nine plays  for a TD and a 24-14 advantage with 11:28 left in the 3rd.

*At halftime, the Tigers had a 17-14 lead, gaining 231 yards on 45 plays, erasing an early 14-0 deficit.

*Down 14-0 in the 1st quarter, AU went for a 4th-and-3 at the UGA 31 and converted with a shuffle pass and later on the drive scored on a halfback pass by Keshaun Singleton to Christian Neptune to make it 14-7. It marked only the second TD allowed in the 1st quarter this season.

*AU tied the game with 6:32 left in the 1st half, driving 64 yards on 11 plays with a nifty 9-yard catch by Chas Nimrod.

*The leading tacklers for Georgia were Raylen Wilson and Chris Cole with 10 each, and it was a career-high for Cole.

*Senior Josh Horton notched a sack, his second of the year while Anthony Lonon Jr., had his second career sack. Quintavius Johnson collected a sack late in the 4th quarter for his second of the year and fourth of his career. Elijah Griffin had his first sack of the year.

*The Tigers took a 17-14 lead on a 49-yard field goal with 1:20 left in the 1st half and carried it to halftime. It marked the second straight week that the Bulldogs trailed at halftime. Last week at #6 Alabama led14-10 at the half.

Receiving Leaders: Ten different Bulldogs caught a pass today. Craig Dandridge Jr had a team-high four catches for 88 yards. His first two catches covered 12 and 41 yards on 3rd downs. Senior Lawson Luckie snagged a 24-yard TD catch to make it 14-0 with 6:49 left in the 1st quarter. London Humphreys (2-for-22, 1 TD) had a four-yard TD catch.

Rushing Numbers: Georgia had  113 rushing yards on 28  attempts for a 4.0 average. Sophomore TB Dwight Phillips Jr. led the team with 68n yards on 10 carries and one TD. Junior Nate Frazier saw limited action with 19 yards on nine carries.

*Special Teams Summary: Senior PK Peyton Woodring scored six points, making three PATs, hit a 42-yard FG and had a 54-yard FG attempt blocked (first of his career) plus he took care of the kickoffs. Woodring is now 7-for-9 in FG attempts this year, and in his career, he is 66-for-76.

*Today marked the first time since the 2020 Kentucky game in Lexington that the Bulldogs had a field goal blocked. That one was a 53-yard attempt by Jack Podlesny. Georgia would go on to win 14-3.

*Woodring extended his SEC record for Consecutive PATs made in a career now with 211. His 409 career points ranks tied for third in UGA history.

*Junior punter Drew Miller posted a 36.3 average on three punts with a long of 43 yards and placed two inside the 20.

*Points Off Turnovers: Georgia did not force any turnover.  For the year, the Bulldogs came in +6  and now are +3, scoring 62 points off 11 turnovers. Opponents have 22 points off eight Bulldog miscues. Today, AU had two interceptions that led to no points. In fact, AU was forced to a three-and-out for just two yards combined after the turnovers. The final Bulldog turnover, a fumble late in the 4th led to the game-winning FG.

*Captains, Starters, Availability, : Georgia’s captains were Elijah Griffin, Jordan Hall, Drew Bobo and Dwight Phillips Jr.

*AU won the coin toss and elected to defer the football until the 2nd half.

*Junior Ja’Marley Riddle made his first start for Georgia after having 19 at ECU. He was starting for FS KJ Bolden who was out to injury. Bolden saw his streak of 20 straight starts end. Tyriq Green (S/KOR) missed his fifth straight contest. Along with junior RB Chauncey Bowens being out for the second game, wideout Isiah Canion missed his fourth game while Thomas Blackshear, missed his second.

*Up Next: Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) is off next week and then will face Florida in Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Oct. 31 at 3:30 pm.

POST-GAME QUOTES

Head Coach Kirby Smart

On his overall thoughts on the game…
“I give Auburn a lot of credit. I have a lot of respect for how they played and the toughness they played with. They came in here with a good plan, and they turned us over three times. I think we won almost every statistical category and didn’t win the game. We have a saying, dogs don’t beat the dogs, and tonight the dogs beat the dogs. I see more games lost than won, and we probably lost that one. Although they did a lot of good things, and they kept turning the chains over. When you don’t get turnovers, and you get self-inflicted wounds with the penalties, it’s hard to win those football games.”

On the offense…
“Auburn has a really good defense. We went into the game thinking we would struggle to run the ball. We thought we could run it against Alabama. We didn’t think about how much we would run at Auburn. I thought we found some success there. It was never consistent. We were in a lot of 2nd and 10s, 2nd and longs, and it made it hard. We overcame a lot of them. I give them credit. They play physical on defense, and they gave us all kinds of problems last year. This year, we were much more explosive versus them, but it was the turnovers that got us.”

On the defense…
“I wouldn’t say they controlled the line of scrimmage. We did some good things at the line of scrimmage. We played better in the second half. We didn’t play real good in the first half in terms of that, but [Byrum Brown]’s big. He’s physical. He’s hard to tackle. It’s hard enough to stop a back, but now you’re stopping a 240-pound quarterback that has a lead blocker and you’re one hat short. It puts a lot of pressure on the secondary. I thought our guys tried to do a good job stripping the ball out, but it just never happened.”

#14 Gunner Stockton | QB | 5th

On the amount of turnovers against Auburn’s defense…
“Auburn, they did a good job. They came out and played hard. They have a good football team right now. I just need to execute a little bit better and take care of the ball.”

On the upcoming bye week and games following…
“It’s all about how you respond. It’s just like life man, life isn’t supposed to be fairy tales and pixie dust. It’s all about how you respond to get better, trying to get better every day and with everything we do.”

On Coach Smart’s post-game locker room message…
“We definitely have to play a little bit better. Auburn is a good team. They came out and played us hard, and we definitely got to attack the bye week. One-loss teams can still do really good things.”

#7 Lawson Luckie | TE | Sr.

On the outcome of the game…
“I can’t take anything away from them (Auburn). We wanted to win the line of scrimmage, and I can’t say we did that in hindsight. I’m proud of the way we fought. That has been our MO for the past couple of years now. This one didn’t go our way.”

On growth in the bye-week…
“We’re different, and it’s really going to show this week. We have two choices to make, and it’s a different state of college football now, and we know that. We have to come ready to fight and ready to get better. The team that wins it all in the end is the one that’s progressively rising. The one that never gets comfortable. This might be something where we look back in a couple of weeks, and this was the best thing possible for us.”

On what he said to Gunner Stockton…
“Whatever you do, we are with you do or die. The worst thing you can do is become gun-shy. We wanted him to know that even after the first one (turnover) just do you. We trust you more than anyone, that dude is going to lead us out to war no matter what.