Whether it’s Stetson Bennett or JT Daniels under center makes little difference when you play defense like Georgia does. The Dawgs didn’t pitch a shutout, but they nevertheless dominated Auburn, 34-10, in the 126th renewal of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Only Minnesota and Wisconsin (130) have played each other more times.

The No. 2 Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) had shut out its previous 2 opponents, blanking Vanderbilt and Arkansas by a combined score of 99-0. So, when No. 18 Auburn (4-2, 1-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead on an Anders Carlson 24-yard field goal, there was certainly no panic.

The Bulldogs regained their composure defensively and secured the 10th win over Auburn in their past 12 games and 17th in the past 21. The Dawgs held Auburn to fewer than 60 yards rushing and harrassed Bo Nix all afternoon. Nix averaged just 5.7 yards per pass attempt and threw an interception.

Georgia put the game out of reach in a 2-play swing midway through the third quarter. Already holding a comfortable 17-3 lead, the Bulldogs stopped a pass attempt from Auburn quarterback Bo Nix on 4th-and-8 at the Georgia 40-yard line. Getting the turnover on downs, Georgia coach Kirby Smart decided to go for the jugular. Bennett threw long to an open Ladd McConkey, who hauled in the long pass and completed a 60-yard touchdown play and a 24-3 advantage. Bennett finished with 231 passing yards and 2 TDs. He also ran for 41 yards.

Auburn did reach the end zone late in the third quarter to shrink Georgia’s lead to 24-10 on a 6-yard touchdown run by Tank Bigsby. It was the first touchdown allowed by Georgia’s defense in either the second or third quarter this season, and first TD yielded since Sept. 18 vs. South Carolina in garbage time.

The Dawgs answered with a 21-yard field goal from Jack Podlesny on the second play of the fourth quarter for a hefty 27-10 lead, and the defense made it stand up. For good measure, the Bulldogs went on a patented time-consuming 10-play, 64-yard drive to hammer in the final nail. Taking nearly 6 minutes off the clock, the Bulldogs scored on a 10-yard touchdown run by Zamir White, his second TD run of the game, to make it 34-10.

Things began to go downhill for Auburn early on. With the score tied 3-3, Auburn lost senior safety Smoke Monday in the first minute of the second quarter because of a targeting penalty. Georgia went ahead to stay on the next play with a 1-yard touchdown run by White.

That lead was extended to 17-3 early in the 2nd quarter on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Bennett to Adonai Mitchell.

Auburn got as close as the Georgia 3 ½-yard line in the second quarter, but a 4th-down pass from Bo Nix fell incomplete.