AU-GA: Tigers can't handle Georgia offense in first loss of the season
By TIM GAYLE
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn had a simple explanation for his team’s 27-6 loss to fourth-ranked Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Saturday night.
“They won the line of scrimmage,” he said. “We really got whipped in all three phases (of the game). We got outcoached. The big stat to me is rushing yards. We only rushed for 39 yards. Then we got in a situation where we got behind and had to throw it a lot and had trouble protecting.
The Bulldogs shook off all the bad offensive habits they displayed a week earlier at Arkansas and rolled up 442 total yards, easing out to a 24-0 lead in the first half and cruising to their 13th victory in the last 16 meetings with their arch rival.
“I thought we showed improvement,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “We left a lot of plays out there. I thought we played really hard defensively but sloppy on third down. I thought offensively, when we play clean … we do well, but we can go backwards as quickly as we can forwards. I did think we played very physical tonight. I think when you play Auburn, that’s where it starts is the line of scrimmage. If you can’t run the ball and somebody else can run the ball, it makes it easier to be successful.”
That was the story behind Saturday’s game. The Bulldogs rushed for 202 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per rush, while Auburn was held to 1.8 yards per rushing play. The Tigers’ leading rusher, Tank Bigsby, was held to 31 yards on eight carries as Auburn went three and out on three of their first four possessions in the game.
“I thought they did a really good job of having a great plan for us,” Auburn quarterback Bo Nix said. “They’re a really good defense. We knew they were going to bring some pressure. Part of that’s on me. I didn’t slide the right way, didn’t get it protected. I got to get the ball out when guys are running open.”
Nix was expected to have the upper hand in the quarterback battle between the two programs, but his inexperienced offensive line couldn’t generate any push or protection against the Georgia front while former walk-on Stetson Bennett completed 17 of 28 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown.
“I can recall the day we decided to offer to take him back,” Smart said. “We had to fight and scratch and claw to get him to come back. I certainly glad he did. It was an interesting decision because we had an interesting dynamic on our team and we felt like, what we knew of Stetson, that he would be a productive player and a good player. Stetson’s never lacked confidence in himself.”
Trailing 24-0, Auburn marched to a first and goal at the Georgia 7, but could only muster a field goal. In the second half, the Tigers ditched what little running game they had and tried to pass their way back into the contest, but could only manage another field goal.
“We just tried to come out in the second half and threw all our bullets at them,” Nix said. “We threw the ball around a little and had some successful drives.”
Both teams lost key personnel in the secondary – Smoke Monday for Auburn and Richard LeCounte for Georgia – because of targeting calls, but the Bulldogs held firm and kept Auburn out of the end zone.
“When you play against a quarterback like Bo and skill level (receivers) like Seth (Williams) and (Anthony) Schwartz and some of those guys, it makes it tough,” Smart said. “Because, eventually, you’re going to be one on one and that’s what football boils down to, who can win that one-on-one matchup. And if you lose some of those, maybe the game is different.”
It wasn’t. For the fourth consecutive time, Smart went home a winner.
“We’ve got a lot of new starters on the offensive line and they got tested tonight,” Malzahn said. “And we’ve got a lot of new starters on the defensive line and they got tested tonight. But we’ll grow from it. When that happens, you’ve got to give the opponent some credit.”
Georgia (2-0) plays host to Tennessee next week, while Auburn (1-1) returns home to play Arkansas.