ATHENS, Ga. — The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs went into Saturday’s contest unbeaten in their last 53 games against unranked opponents. The Auburn Tigers changed that on Saturday afternoon in their own building.
Alex McPherson nailed a 34-yard field goal as time expired, and Auburn took down the No. 1 team in the country, 27-24, at Sanford Stadium. After allowing the Bulldogs to come back into the contest and nearing taking the lead, Auburn got a key turnover and saw key runs to get the biggest win of the Alex Golesh era.
After a 13-play, 94-yard drive from the Bulldogs to tie the game, Auburn had an aborted snap to punt the ball back to Georgia. However, defensive tackle Cody Sigler forced a fumble on Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton, and Sylvester Smith-Reed pounced on it to force the Bulldogs’ third turnover of the game.
From there, Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown and company used their legs to churn out 40 yards on six plays, and McPherson’s boot etched the Tigers into history.
Despite opening the game with two scoring drives, Auburn began to slow Stockton down, making him miss key throws to get off the field to win the time of possession. The Tigers had three-and-a-half minutes more in the first half offensively than their opponent did, and the fatigue played a role.
Behind the legs of Brown, Auburn scored two touchdowns in the first half, with one coming from a trick play that had receiver Christian Neptune send a 24-yard throw to Keshaun Singleton to get on the board.
Two drives later, receiver Chas Nimrod made a highlight-reel catch from Brown to tie the game up.
The halftime break didn’t see a change in that commitment to running the football, however. Auburn ran the ball six times on its first drive of the second half, and Brown finished it off with a five-yard score of his own. It put the Tigers up double-digits, and a nervousness around Sanford Stadium began to linger.
A drive later, Stockton would overthrow his target to find the arms of linebacker Elijah Melendez, giving the Georgia quarterback the first multi-interception game of his career.
Brown would finish the game with 132 rushing yards off of 26 carries, including a touchdown, while also throwing for 150 yards. Auburn would amass 192 yards on the ground, beating out Georgia’s 113.
Auburn will be back in action at home next Saturday, seeing another elite opponent in No. 22 LSU. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. Central from Jordan-Hare Stadium.
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