Auburn is last in the SEC West after getting picked to win the league.
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Therefore, in that situation, Richt wanted McKenzie in the game to ensure the Georgia return unit would be out of the way of another possible short punt.
Let’s get to the grades. The defense turned in a strong performance by allowing one offensive touchdown for the second consecutive week.
“We have confidence in him”, Auburn coach Gus Malzahn told reporters this week, adding, “We got confidence in Sean, too”.
To me, this is the most important stat: Auburn has not won back-to-back games at Jordan-Hare against Georgia since the 1988 and 1990 games.
Auburn blew an opportunity with 3:22 left, when Ricardo Louis a fumble near the goal line, meaning Auburn came up empty on a 12-play, 72-yard drive. Auburn is 33/37 scoring in the red zone with 21 touchdowns, and opponents are 30/38 with 22 touchdowns. Auburn’s Daniel Carlson, however, is having one of the best seasons of any kicker in the country, and will likely be a finalist for the Lou Groza Award. The Bulldogs picked off a wild Jeremy Johnson pass and recovered a pair of Auburn fourth quarter fumbles that decided the game.
The two teams combined for 518 total yards, and Auburn shot itself in the foot with three turnovers.
White’s only completion in five attempts went for 1 yard.
Neither passed for 100 yards.
“There’s a lot more to it than that”, Malzahn said. In addition to facing a third-and-41 at one point in the second half after four penalties, assistant coach Mike Ekeler’s celebratory head tap appeared to injure defensive back Rico McGraw.
Passing offense – F: It was apparent Jeremy Johnson wasn’t given much leeway to throw and his only pass longer than 10 yards in the first half was intercepted. He said it was a designed run play. He hesitated and went backwards instead. Although his offenses average 25 points per contest against the Dawgs, he was held to just seven points twice, both in years following the departure of a Heisman finalist and a trip to the National Championship. A touchdown would have pulled Auburn within 20-17 with all three of its timeouts remaining and more than three minutes left in the game.
The Auburn offense managed to gain 185 yards in the first half while building a 10-3 lead – but 161 of them came on the ground. He split time with Sean White in the second half. Georgia had only 243 yards.
With the Bulldogs turning back to Greyson Lambert at quarterback do they run their win total to three or will it be the Tigers winning on Saturday?
The 2015 game features a UGA team, with a 6 – 3 record and losses to Tennessee and Florida, against an Auburn team at 5 – 4.
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It doesn’t seem to matter who Georgia puts under center, the Bulldogs can’t generate anything through the air. Auburn held its own against Georgia’s offense, which had admittedly struggled in recent weeks, and did everything it could to set up Malzahn’s offense for a victory.
