ATHENS, Ga. – Jarquez Hunter rushed for 91 yards and a touchdown but No. 5 Georgia defeated Auburn 31-13 in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry Saturday at Sanford Stadium.
"We've got to play and coach better," Auburn coach Hugh Freeze said. "We've got to go to work and make sure we demand more out of each other. It's time to expect more out of ourselves as coaches and players."
Trailing 14-3 at the half, Auburn forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the third quarter, then drove 66 yards on six straight rushes, three from Payton Thorne and three from Hunter, whose 38-yard touchdown down the right sideline pulled the Tigers within four points at 14-10.
"I saw the defensive end and I knew he wasn't going to catch me," said Hunter of his longest run of the season. "The receivers did a great job on perimter blocking."
"We ran the football well all day, I thought," Freeze said. "I think we can run the football on most anybody. We had a good plan. Jarquez is running really hard. Our O-line is blocking well, and that's a good football team."
Georgia responded with a 12-play touchdown drive, gaining 75 yards and scoring on Trevor Etienne’s 1-yard touchdown run to lead 21-10 with 3:50 to play in the third quarter.
On the drive, Georgia narrowly picked up a first down on Carson Beck’s quarterback keeper on fourth-and-1 from Auburn’s 45-yard line. A 27-yard completion on third-and-6 from midfield and Etienne’s 21-yard rush on the next play set up the TD run.
Auburn drove to its 44-yard and went for it on fourth-and-1 on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs tackled Thorne for a 4-yard loss and scored five plays later on Beck’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Bell to go ahead 28-10.
Auburn converted on fourth-and-8 with a 13-yard pass from Thorne to KeAndre-Lambert Smith and pulled within two scores on Towns McGough’s 26-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter, but Georgia held the ball until fewer than two minutes remained, concluding the drive wiht a 47-yard field goal.
Lambert-Smith led Auburn with seven receptions for 95 yards.
"It was nothing extra, just me being myself," Lambert-Smith said. "Not quitting, not giving up, trying to prove something."
Auburn converted on third-and-12 on the game’s opening possession before Georgia forced a punt.
An illegal substitution penalty cost Auburn a chance for a three-and-out, with Georgia driving 75 yards on 11 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on Etienne’s 2-yard touchdown run.
Auburn answered with a 10-play scoring drive, gaining 40 yards on two Thorne completions to Lambert-Smith, and 19 yards on Hunter’s run. McGough kicked a 27-yard field goal to narrow Georgia’s lead to 7-3 in the final minute of the first quarter.
Keldric Faulk sacked Beck twice on third downs in the second quarter to force punts.
"Crucial," said Faulk, who made seven tackles, of his drive-ending plays. "The more times we can get the ball in our offense's hands is a good deal. Our goal is to keep our defense off the field as many poessessions as we can, and let our offense go to work."
Georgia pinned Auburn at the Tigers’ 3-yard line, forced a three-and-out and got the ball back at midfield with 1:02 remaining.
The Bulldogs increased their lead to 14-3 on Beck’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Dominic Lovett with 17 seconds left in the half.
Starting at its own 40-yard line after a facemask penalty against Georgia, the Tigers gained 24 yards but the Bulldogs blocked Auburn’s 54-yard field goal attempt as the half expired.
Dorian Mausi led Auburn with eight tackles, including a tackle for loss.
"Learning how to play winning football is the key thing we need to work on while we're in practice during this bye week," Mausi said. "There's always room for improvement."
After an open date next Saturday, Auburn (2-4, 0-3) remains on the road Oct. 19 at No. 9 Missouri.
"We're beat up," Freeze said. "We need to rest our minds and our bodies a couple days, and then we need to find out who's ready to go to work, and try to have a better second half of the season."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer