AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn forced two turnovers and grabbed a second-half lead against the nation's top-ranked team but No. 1 Georgia scored the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter to beat Auburn 27-20 Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the 128th renewal of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
"I'm really proud of our kids," Auburn coach Hugh Feeze said. "Hopefully we can build off the way we played better today. It hurts and it's disappointing that we couldn't find a way to get it done."
Tied 20-20 with 2:52 remaining, Georgia quarterback Carson Beck connected on a 40-yard touchdown pass to Brock Bowers, whose eight receptions for 157 yards proved to be the game's decisive matchup.
Auburn gained 22 yards to approach midfield but Georgia intercepted the Tigers' pass on fourth-and-9 then ran out the clock.
Tied 10-10 at the half, Auburn forced its second turnover on the first play of the third quarter when Marcus Harris forced a fumble that Jalen McLeod recovered at Georgia's 32-yard line.
Robby Ashford rushed for 18 yards to the 14, then Jarquez Hunter gained 5 to set up Ashford's 9-yard touchdown run to give Auburn a 17-10 lead at the 13:31 mark of the third quarter.
"We preach when a break comes our way, score," Freeze said. "We scored points on both of those. Those are huge. Would've been nice to get two or three more."
Georgia drove 98 yards on 10 plays and tied the score at 17-17 on Daijun Edwards' 13-yard rush at the 1:03 mark of the third quarter.
The Bulldogs took their first lead on a 38-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, but Auburn evened the score at 20-20 on Alex McPherson's 11TH consecutive field goal, a 42-yarder with 6:21 to play.
"Hopefully they see that they can go toe-to-toe with the nation's best," Freeze said. "It stings, but I'm very proud of them. We play hard for 60 minutes. It has to start there."
After Auburn's defense forced a punt on Georgia's opening drive, Payton Thorne faked a handoff and sprinted 61 yards down UGA's sideline to the Bulldogs' 31-yard line, setting up McPherson's 27-yard field goal.
Jaylin Simpson's fourth interception of the season ended the Bulldogs' second drive at Georgia's 48-yard line.
"Those are game changers," Simpson said of the Tigers' takeaways that led to 14 Auburn points. "The pick at the beginning, I think it set the tone for the defense, how we were going to be coming the whole day."
Auburn scored in seven plays, with Thorne rushing for 5 yards on fourth-and-2 for a first down. Jarquez Hunter gained 14 yards up the middle, then scored on the next play from the 5 to give the Tigers a 10-0 lead with 2 minutes left in the first quarter.
Georgia answered with a 41-yard kick return and an 11-play, 56-yard drive, scoring on Edwards' 2-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs tied the score at 10-10 on a 37-yard field goal after Zion Puckett and Simpson broke up passes on second and third downs, respectively.
Georgia converted 8 of 13 third downs while the Tigers were 2-for-12 on third down.
"I think that's where the game was won and lost," Freeze said. "No. 19 (Bowers) is a handful and we didn't do a great job guarding him. It was hard to get pressure on them with just four. He made the plays."
Larry Nixon led Auburn with eight tackles while Eugene Asante and Marcus Harris added seven apiece. Harris made two of Auburn's eight tackles for loss.
A star-studded sideline featuring Auburn legends Cam Newton, Frank Thomas, Charles Barkley and Suni Lee brought pizazz to a sold-out, orange-clad crowd on a day when Auburn hosted numerous elite high school prospects.
"Come help us build it," Freeze said of his message to recruits. "We can do it. It doesn't take long. We just need people to buy in and come be part of the Auburn culture, the Auburn family. Our fans were incredible today. It's exciting to play here and I think it's attractive to a lot of recruits."
After an open date, Auburn (3-2, 0-2) plays at LSU Oct. 14 with kickoff time to be determined on Monday.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer
Postgame Notes>> Captains: Luke Deal, Elijah McAllister, Kam Stutts, Payton Thorne
>> Coin Toss: Georgia wins the toss and defers; Auburn will receive
>> Eagle Flight: Aurea from flagpole
>> Attendance: 88,043 (capacity)
TEAM NOTES
>> First-time starters for Auburn: None
>> Auburn has scored in 134 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in school history.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: OFFENSE
>> Payton Thorne's 61-yard run in the first quarter was the longest of his career and the longest by an Auburn QB since Malik Willis in 2017 (67 yards) vs. Mississippi State.
>> Robby Ashford's third-quarter TD run was his fifth of the season and the 12th rushing score of his career. Ashford now ranks 8th among Auburn career QB rushing TD leaders; next is Kodi Burns (14 from 2007-10).
>> Jarquez Hunter scored his second rushing TD of the season and 12th of his career.
>> Hunter is now 36th among Auburn career rushers with 1,465 yards, passing Monk Gafford (1,414 from 1940-42); next is Cam Newton (1,473 in 2010), Tommy Lorino (1,486 in 1956-58), Kamryn Pettway (1,529 in 2015-17).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: DEFENSE
>> Jaylin Simpson records his fourth interception of the season and seventh of his career.
>> Jaylin McLeod recovers his first fumble at Auburn and second of his career.
>> Marcus Harris forced the first fumble of his Auburn career; Harris has also passed the 100 career tackles mark (29 of those at Kansas).
>> Cam Riley has passed the 100 career tackles mark.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: SPECIAL TEAMS
>> Oscar Chapman's 71-yard punt was a career long (previous: 67 vs. Northwestern 2020); it's tied for the third-longest punt in Auburn history and is the longest punt since 2006 (Kody Bliss vs. Tulane).
>> Alex McPherson has made 11 consecutive field goals.