ATHENS, Ga. – A promising start to the second half sparked Auburn and Jarquez Hunter scored a touchdown but No. 2 Georgia beat the Tigers 42-10 Saturday at Sanford Stadium in the 127th meeting of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
"The guys are disappointed," Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. "All credit to Georgia. They're a really good football team. I thought our guys in the first half, defensively in particular, did some good things. In the second half, the physicality of Georgia showed up."
Hunter caught a short pass and spun away from two defenders, racing down the left sideline for a 62-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
"Jarquez made a spectacular play to get down the sideline and score," Harsin said.
Trailing 14-0 to start the third quarter, Auburn pressured Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett on third-and-7 with Colby Wooden forcing and recovering a fumble at UGA's 19-yard line.
Anders Carlson kicked a 29-yard field goal to get the Tigers on the scoreboard at the 11:51 mark of the third quarter.
"It feels good to come away with points but when we have that opportunity, we've got to be able to score touchdowns," Auburn captain John Samuel Shenker said. "In this conference that's a must."
Georgia answered with its longest drive of the game, moving 81 yards on 11 plays, taking a 21-3 lead on Daijun Edwards' 2-yard touchdown run, his second score of the game.
Auburn converted on third-and-13 on Robby Ashford's 20-yard completion to Ja'Varrius Johnson but the drive ended with a punt when Georgia made its first tackle for loss on a third-and-8 rush from UGA's 43.
The Bulldogs broke open the game on the first play of the fourth quarter on Bennett's quarterback draw when he raced 64 yards for a touchdown to put Georgia ahead 28-3.
After Georgia forced a three-and-out, the Bulldogs drove 63 yards on six plays with Edwards scoring his third touchdown on a 7-yard rush to make it 35-3 before Hunter answered for Auburn.
The Bulldogs added their sixth rushing touchdown on Branson Robinson's 15-yard run with 4:45 to play.
Special teams figured prominently in Georgia's first-half touchdown drives, with the Bulldogs capitalizing on short fields after stopping Auburn's fake punt on the Tigers' 36-yard line, and Ladd McConkey's 38-yard punt return.
"It was a good play call," said Shenker, who rushed for 2 yards on fourth-and-6. "They gave us the look we wanted but we just weren't able to execute it."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Bulldogs took a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter, driving 36 yards on seven plays after the fourth-down stop, scoring on Kenny McIntosh's 1-yard run.
"We started strong but we've got to keep that fire going throughout the duration of the game," said linebacker Owen Pappoe, who led Auburn with eight tackles
The Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0) then forced a three-and-out and McConkey's return gave Georgia excellent field position at Auburn's 31. Two plays later, Edwards scored his first touchdown on a 1-yard rush.
Shenker made five receptions for 32 yards, passing Cooper Wallace to become Auburn's career leader in tight end receptions with 65.
Auburn held Georgia to 25 passing yards in the first half on 7 of 13 attempts while recording three three-and-outs.
"We've got to find the positives," Pappoe said. "We created a turnover today on defense, that's something we've been struggling with. There are lessons in every loss. We've just got to get better on both sides of the ball."
Auburn (3-3, 1-2) travels to Ole Miss next Saturday for an 11 a.m. CT kickoff on SEC Network and the Auburn Sports Network.
"There's a lot of football left and guys are hungry," senior captain Derick Hall said. "It hurts and it's frustrating. We're going to continue to be hungry and come to work tomorrow."Postgame Notes>> Captains: Derick Hall, Owen Pappoe, John Samuel Shenker, Brandon Council
>> Coin Toss: Georgia wins the toss and defers; Auburn to receive
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: none
>> Auburn has scored in 123 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
>> Auburn held the opponent scoreless in the first quarter for the fifth time this season.
>> Auburn's defense has allowed only 25 first-quarter touchdowns in its last 72 games.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> John Samuel Shenker is the Auburn career leader in tight end receptions (65), passing Cooper Wallace (63 catches from 2002-05).
>> Shenker is now 3rd in tight end career receiving yardage (750), passing Robert Johnson (741 from 2000-02); next is Fred Baxter (767 from 1990-92).
>> Robby Ashford's 62-yard touchdown pass to Jarquez Hunter was Auburn's longest pass play of the season and a career long for both.
>> Tank Bigsby now has 2,278 career rushing yards, to rank 14th all-time at Auburn, passing James Joseph (2,264 from 1986-90); next is Michael Dyer (2,335 from 2010-11).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Marcus Bragg's forced fumble was his first at Auburn; Colby Wooden's fumble recovery was the second of his career.
>> Colby Wooden now has 3.0 sacks and 5.5 TFL for the season; he has 12.0 career sacks and 24.0 career TFL.
>> D.J. James' TFL was his first of the season.
>> Owen Pappoe (8) was Auburn's leading tackler for the 8th time in his career.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Oscar Chapman's 9 punts are his most in a game this season (previous was 8 vs. MissourI); his career high is 10 punts against Alabama last season.
>> Anders Carlson is now second in Auburn career scoring with 384 points; the career leader is Daniel Carlson with 480 points from 2014-17.
>> Carlson ranks second at Auburn in career field goals made with 73; Daniel Carlson is the career leader with 92.
>> Carlson is third in career PAT made at Auburn with 165; next is Wes Byrum (183 from 2007-10).
>> Carlson (384) is now 7th among SEC career scoring leaders; next is Leigh Tiffin, Alabama (385 from 2006-09).
>> Carlson (73) is 8th among SEC career leaders in field goals made, passing Austin MacGinnis, Kentucky (72 from 2014-17) and Parker White, South Carolina (72 from 2017-21); next is Blair Walsh, Georgia (76 from 2008-11).
