Auburn starts fast but comes up short at Georgia

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Auburn starts fast but comes up short at GeorgiaAuburn starts fast but comes up short at Georgia
Wade Rackley/Auburn Athletics

ATHENS, Ga. – Playing against a Top 5 opponent Saturday night, Auburn jumped out to an early lead and looked to play the part of spoiler, but No. 5 Georgia proved to be too much as the Tigers dropped a 27-10 decision on the road. 

"Disappointing loss," Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn said. "First of all, give Georgia credit. They've got a complete team. They outplayed us in all three phases. We thought we had a chance to come here and win, and we didn't get it done.   
 
"The one thing I'll say is our guys fought. Our guys kept fighting, and they're going to continue to do that."
 
Georgia scored first with an early field goal, but Auburn responded on the next drive with an eight-play 75-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown pass from JaTarvious Whitlow to John Samuel Shenker. Whitlow, the team's starting running back, lined up in the Wildcat formation, rolled to his left and found Shenker in the back of the end zone for the score.
 
For Shenker, it was his third career catch and first career touchdown.
 
On the same drive, Auburn senior Ryan Davis made his 154th career reception and passed Courtney Taylor as the program's all-time leading receptions leader. Davis set a new career-high with 13 receptions in the game and finished with 72 yards receiving. He's now caught a pass in 24 consecutive games, the most by and Auburn player since Ricardo Louis had a 24-game streak from 2013-15.
 
"I can't speak enough about Ryan Davis," Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham said. "He is the epitome of what an Auburn football player is and what it should look like. I'm just blessed to be his teammate."
 
Davis and Stidham also made history together Saturday as they became the most productive pass tandem in Auburn history with 141 completions, passing Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley (1969-71).
 
Like the offense, the Auburn defense also started strong, making a pair of goal-line stands on Georgia's first two drives that forced the Bulldogs to settle for two field goals. It was the ninth time this season the Tigers have held their opponent without a touchdown in the first quarter.

 After Georgia's second field early in the second quarter, Auburn answered with another solid scoring drive and extended the lead to 10-6 with a 27-yard field goal from Anders Carlson. 
 
However, the game turned in the final three minutes of the first half when the Bulldogs scored back-to-back touchdowns to take a 20-10 lead into the locker room. And then it was a 77-yard touchdown run from D'Andre Swift early in the fourth quarter that ultimately put the game out of reach.

"Obviously, we didn't do what we came here to do," Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis said. "I feel like we had a good opportunity to come in here and steal a win. But we didn't do that. We just have to go back to the drawing board. We can't let this loss dwell on us for too long. We've still got two more games left in this season and the bowl game also."

Davis finished with a team-high 10 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack. It was the 10th career double-figure tackle game for the senior linebacker, who now ranks ninth on Auburn's all-time tackles list with 245. He passed former linebacker Josh Bynes (240 from 2007-10) on Saturday.
 
The Tigers return home next week to face Liberty at 3 p.m. CT.
 Auburn at Georgia final notes

  • Captains: Deshaun Davis, Ryan Davis, Jarrett Stidham
  • Coin Toss: Georgia wins the toss and defers. Auburn will receive

TEAM NOTES

  • First-time starters for Auburn: none
  • Auburn has scored in 77 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history
  • Auburn held the opponent without a first-quarter touchdown for the ninth time this season
  • Auburn won the turnover battle for the fifth time this season

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/OFFENSE

  • Ryan Davis is now the Auburn career receiving leader with 165 career receptions, passing Courtney Taylor (153 from 2003-06) with a 9-yard reception with 5:14 remaining in the first quarter; he had a career-high 13 receptions tonight, the most by an Auburn receiver under Coach Gus Malzahn
  • Davis ranks 14th in Auburn career receiving yardage (1,477), passing Ronney Daniels (1,446 from 1999-2000)
  • Ryan Davis has caught a pass in 24 consecutive games, the most since Ricardo Louis had a 24-game streak between 2013-15. This is the seventh time in his career he has had at least seven catches in a game
  • Jarrett Stidham to Ryan Davis is now the most productive pass tandem in Auburn history, with 141 (13 today) completions; the Auburn record was 140 completions by Pat Sullivan to Terry Beasley (1969-71)
  • Stidham is sixth among Auburn career passing leaders with 5,274 yards
  • Stidham now ranks fifth in Auburn career completions with 430, passing Dameyune Craig (427 from 1994-97)
  • John Samuel Shenker's 9-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter was the first score of his career. It was JaTarvious Whitlow's first career pass and TD pass
  • Shedrick Jackson recorded his first career catch
  • Shaun Shivers' 30-yard rush was a career long
  • JaTarvious Whitlow is now fourth all-time among Auburn freshman rushers with 666 yards this season (26 tonight), passing Joe Frazier (651 in 1991)

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/DEFENSE

  • Jamel Dean recorded his second interception of the season (Southern Miss) and third of his career
  • With 245 career tackles (10 tonight), Deshaun Davis ranks ninth among Auburn career tacklers since 2000, passing Josh Bynes (240 from 2007-10)
  • Davis recorded his second sack of the season and his 10th career double-figure tackle game
  • Christian Tutt recorded a career-best 6 tackles
  • Andrew Williams recorded his fourth career sack and first of the season

INDIVIDUAL NOTES/SPECIAL TEAMS

  • Auburn holds the SEC record for consecutive PAT with 256, the longest current streak in the nation. Anders Carlson is now 28-28 on PAT for his career