The Georgia Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 in SEC) won arguably their toughest test of the season against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The objective against the Auburn Tigers (3-2, 1-2 in SEC) is to not let the celebration get to their heads and suffer an upset loss. According to our CFB Sim, Georgia almost blew it in a tough matchup at home.
Game Summary
The first quarter was almost all defense. The Tigers drew first blood, with Byrum Brown finding Chas Nimrod for an eight-yard touchdown at 3:33 in the quarter. Georgia answered on their next drive, with Dwight Phillips Jr. punching it in at the goal line to tie it at seven. Auburn got another touchdown, with Jeremiah Cobb scoring his own goal-line TD to make it 14-7. Both teams exchanged field goals, so by halftime, Auburn was up 17-10.
That's when Georgia took over. The third quarter was all Bulldogs: Nate Frazier took a dump-off from Gunner Stockton 21 yards to the house to tie it up at 17 at 8:48 in the third quarter. Auburn went three-and-out, then Peyton Woodring made a 55-yard field goal to give Georgia their first lead at 20-17. The Bulldogs forced another three-and-out, and they were rewarded with another Peyton Woodring field goal, this time from 45 yards out, to make it 23-17.
The game was still uneasy for Georgia, and in the fourth quarter, the Tigers broke through. Byrum Brown called his own number, running it from nine yards out to give Auburn a 24-23 lead with 9:51 in the quarter. Still, Georgia didn't cower. They took up five minutes on the next drive, with Peyton Woodring kicking a 20-yard field goal to give the Bulldogs a 26-24 lead.
The defense allowed just one first down before forcing a turnover on downs from Auburn, but when Georgia tried going for the kill at the nine-yard line, Gunner Stockton couldn't complete it to Talyn Taylor on fourth down. It looked like Auburn would have some time to get into field goal range, but Byrum Brown was sacked in the end zone for a safety to reach the final score of 28-24.
Statistics
Georgia fans probably wouldn't be satisfied with this win, but the Bulldogs made the key plays in the second half to win it. They had just one more first down (20) than Auburn (19), along with 50 more yards (401 vs. 350 for Auburn). The Tigers dominated in the run, with 180 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bulldogs were slightly better on third down, going 7-for-15 vs. Auburn's 5-for-12 tally.
Gunner Stockton went 24 of 34 for 251 yards and a touchdown, while Nate Frazier came back in style with 193 total yards and a receiving touchdown on 31 total touches. He led the team in both rushing (116) and receiving yards (77).
The defense, especially the pass rush, won the game for Georgia. They earned four sacks, with two from Gabe Harris Jr., and one each from Josh Horton and Jordan Hall. At the end of the day, it was another gritty win in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
Auburn would cover by a pretty big margin with this result, but Georgia would move up to an impressive 7-0 on the season. That would be a perfect record before they enter the bye.
This article originally appeared on UGA Wire: CFB 27 Sim predicts result of Auburn-Georgia game