BY BRANDON HUGHES
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —Auburn entered the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry on Saturday, having not won in Athens since 2005. Despite being outmanned at practically every position on the field, the Tigers’ defense continued its solid play while the offense would put up its most yards (337) and points in Athens since 2009.
But none of it was enough as Auburn (2-4, 0-3) fell to Georgia (4-1, 2-1) 31-13. The Tigers head into the bye week with its worst start (2-4) since 2012 and opened conference play 0-3 for the second consecutive season.
“Obviously, a disappointing season and today is another step not in the direction that we had hoped,” said Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze after the game. “We’re not playing winning football. We’ve got to, as coaches, figure out how to coach them harder and make sure we don’t make critical errors at critical times that cost us a chance to win a football game.”
Auburn opened the game on offense but mustered only 14 yards on the drive. The Tiger defense forced a three-and-out on Georgia’s opening possession, but an illegal substitution penalty gave the Bulldogs a first down—they would capitalize on the defense’s blunder. Georgia’s Trevor Etienne would open the scoring with a two-yard plunge to put the host Bulldogs on top 7-0.
Freeze was asked about the drive-extending penalty after the game. “Those are the things that I’m talking about,” he said. “Heck, that’s a three-and-out to start the game. That’s reason to get jacked up and excited.”
The Tiger offense would find its footing on the following drive and got as deep as the Georgia 8-yard line, where it stalled. Towns McGhough sailed a 27-yard kick through the uprights for Auburn’s first points of the game.
Poised to go into halftime down only 7-3, Auburn began its drive at their 3-yard line with 1:52 remaining in the second quarter. Following a five-yard rush by Jarquez Hunter, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart chose not to call a timeout, signaling that he was satisfied with taking the slim lead into halftime. However, Auburn was flagged for a false start penalty on second down, stopping the clock and moving the offense back to the 4-yard line.
At that point, strategies changed. Smart used his timeouts and got the ball back with 1:02 on the clock. Five plays later, Georgia’s Carson Beck completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett with 17 seconds remaining, giving the Bulldogs a 14-3 halftime advantage.
Coming out of the half, the Auburn defense forced a three-and-out, and the Tiger offense took over at its 32-yard line. Six plays later, Hunter found a seam and raced through the right side of the line 38 yards for a touchdown making the score 14-10. Hunter’s run was his longest of the season and the longest gain given up by the Bulldog defense on the ground this season.
Georgia would answer the Auburn score, however, with a 12-play, 75-yard drive capped with a one-yard run by Etienne. An Auburn penalty on the ensuing kick return pinned the Tiger offense at its five-yard line to begin the drive. The Tigers got off to a solid start, getting itself out of the shadow of the goalposts with a 16-yard reception by Hunter. After converting a second first down and putting together a promising drive, the offense faced a 4th down and one at its own 44 to open the 4th quarter. In a play doomed from the snap, quarterback Payton Thorne kept the ball and tried to run around the right end but was met by a Bulldog defender and tackled for a four-yard loss. The play left Hunter holding his arms out in confusion and Freeze asking, “What is he doing?” on the sideline.
“The call was a dive left to Jarquez, and we didn’t execute that play,” Freeze responded when asked about the play call. A reporter followed up asking if it were a read play, meaning that Thorne had an option on what to run, and Freeze said, “No.”
Thorne was asked about the play call after the game. “We’re running a run play—I had an option to throw it, too,” said the senior quarterback. “And the look that I got, you know, we had a guy that I needed to handle. Moved the back out of his original position and ran the play. And I think it was No. 11, came off the edge hard, and that’s the guy I was reading. And I don’t want to get into too much detail on that, I guess. I could tell you the whole thing, but I don’t think so. Probably shouldn’t.”
The cameras caught a heated but one-sided conversation on the sideline between Freeze and Thorne after the play, and when asked about it, Freeze said, “Yeah, he absolutely didn’t go with what we had called. Payton’s a thinker. He knows football. He decided to try to run some type of zone read there. I think everybody was a little confused. But we definitely weren’t on the same page there. I should have used one of our timeouts there when I saw things were going awry.”
The Bulldogs made quick work of the good field position and extended its lead to 28-10 on a three-yard touchdown pass. Auburn would once again stall an offensive drive inside the Georgia 10 and settle for another McGhough field goal. Georgia would answer that field goal with one of its own to complete the scoring for the game.
By the Numbers:
- Georgia QB Carson Beck was 20-20 for 175 yards and two TDs on pass attempts of less than 15 yards.
- Auburn has not beaten a power-conference opponent that finished its season with a winning record since Ole Miss in 2021.
- If Auburn finishes below .500 this year, it will be the first time the program has had four straight losing seasons since 1946-50, when the Tigers had five straight.
Up Next: Auburn is off next week before playing at Missouri on Oct. 19.