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Auburn was attempting to make history. That is, beat Georgia in Athens for the first time since 2005.
That bid came up short on Saturday.
While the Tigers did manage to have their best offensive showing in Athens since 2009, it wasn’t enough for a victory. Georgia grinded out a 31-13 victory.
Here are 3 takeaways from the 2024 edition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry:
1. It was a win, but I wouldn’t call that a dominant bounce-back effort from Georgia
Georgia was able to keep Auburn at an arm’s distance, but it was by no means the clean performance that UGA was hoping to deliver after the Alabama loss. Kirby Smart said he wanted to see his team play a complete game and to play complimentary football, which was something it hadn’t done all year.
On the bright side, UGA failed to trail in an SEC first quarter for the first time since the Kentucky game last season. On the not-so-bright side, Georgia struggled with penalties (7 for 85 yards) and the chunk plays in the passing game were a bit harder to come by without a go-to target.
But Carson Beck avoided the colossal mistakes. He played turnover-free football and completed 23-of-29 passes for 240 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. At this point, it doesn’t feel like Georgia will be a team that punches a team in the mouth with a 28-0 lead at the break.
The Dawgs settled for a 31-point showing in a multi-score victory. Life could be worse. It beat the Alabama experience in Nashville.
2. In a not-so-stunning turn of events, the Auburn offense was limited
Nobody expected Payton Thorne to lead a dominant effort in Athens. Thorne wasn’t particularly ineffective. He at least avoided interceptions and kept Auburn afloat in the second half, with some help from Jarquez Hunter, who broke a pair of tackles for the Tigers’ lone offensive touchdown of the day.
But a 13-point effort still meant Auburn fell to 0-3 in SEC play and 0-4 against Power 5 competition. Hugh Freeze’s bid to pull off a miracle victory fell short when he and Thorne had a miscommunication on 4th and 1, which led to a loss of yards and a turnover on downs.
It was a fitting sign for the day that was.
3. Next up for Georgia? A pre-Texas tuneup vs. Mississippi State
After facing an SEC team without a victory against a Power 5 team, Georgia will get another one of those when Mississippi State travels to Athens next week. Mind you, that’s Mississippi State with a backup quarterback.
Yes, that means it’ll be considered a tuneup. But after Mississippi State had a 1-score game late in the third quarter at Texas, perhaps Smart won’t have to preach the “don’t sleep on them” message quite as hard.
Whatever the case, the Dawgs will be a considerable favorite to be a 1-loss team heading into the all-important Texas showdown.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Down South. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.
