ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia and Auburn renewed the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry for the 127th time in the past 130 years on Saturday. Fittingly perhaps, an old-school football game broke out.
Neither team could throw the football with very well, including the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs, who came in as one of the top passing teams in the SEC. So, Georgia reverted to the form that earned it the RBU reputation and ran the football for 256 yards and six touchdowns on the way to a 42-10 victory at Sanford Stadium.
Three of those TDs were scored on runs by junior Daijun Edwards, who led Georgia’s running backs with 83 yards on 12 carries. Running backs Kenny McIntosh and Branson Robinson and quarterback Stetson Bennett also recorded rushing touchdowns, with Bennett taking his 64 yards.
The win probably won’t earn back much of the credit Georgia lost with last week’s close call against Missouri, which dropped it from No. 1 in the polls. Auburn (3-3, 1-2) is struggling mightily in Year 3 under beleaguered coach Bryan Harsin, who may not survive this latest loss as the Tigers’ coach. Rumors of his impending dismissal have persisted for weeks.
Nevertheless, it was a cathartic win for the Bulldogs (6-0, 3-0 SEC), who never were really threatened in recording their 20th win in the last 21 games. Georgia claimed its sixth consecutive victory over the Tigers and stretched its advantage on the long-played series to 63-56-8
The best chance Auburn had at making a game of it came at the beginning of the second half. Holding an unimpressive 14-0 lead, the Bulldogs received the second-half kickoff looking to take control of the game. Instead, they lost control of the football. Stetson Bennett was sacked from behind by Auburn’s Marcus Bragg. He fumbled, and Auburn’s Colby Wooden recovered at the Georgia 19.
But as it did all day, the Bulldogs’ defense would not loosen its suffocating grip on the Tigers. Auburn managed just five yards and had to settle for a 29-yard field and a 14-3 deficit with 11:51 still remaining in the third.
Georgia answered the way a Top 5 team should. It put together its best offensive drive of day, covering 81 yards on nine plays and going ahead 21-3 on Edwards' second 1-yard TD run of the game.
The contest officially became a blowout when Bennett, who had a tough day throwing the football, broke loose on a 64-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter. It was his longest TD run of Bennett’s six-year collegiate career.
It was a good thing that the Bulldogs could advance the ball on the ground, because they weren’t able to do much through the air. Bennett was 14-of-22 passing for 122 yards passing when he broke off his long TD run to the east end zone. After missing many deep balls to open receivers, Bennett settled in with a big fourth-quarter lead and completed some passes. He finished 22-of-32 passing for 208 yards.
With Carson Beck finishing the game for the Bulldogs, they finished with 502 yards total offense, 294 of it rushing. Meanwhile, certainly to the delight of coach Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs were 3 for 3 in the red zone on the afternoon.
Conversely, Auburn was deplorable on offense. With due credit to Georgia’s defense, which was having to play without several key players, the Tigers had only 177 yards heading into the fourth quarter. At that point, quarterback Robby Ashford had twice as many incompletions (22) as completions (11), completing 33% of his passes for 89 yards.
Georgia should have gotten through the game without giving up a touchdown. But Ashford connected with Jarquez Hunter on a simple outlet pass in the flat. But Tykee Smith and two other Georgia defenders failed to bring him down in a four-person collision, and the running back went 62 yards for a mostly-meaningless score.
However, Auburn still could not manage 100 yards rushing as a team. It finished with 93, and that shortcoming came in the same week that the Tigers’ starting center, Brandon Council, predicted the Tigers would “demolish” Georgia’s defense with their run game.
Next up for the Bulldogs is Vanderbilt, which visits next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Auburn stays on the road with a game at Ole Miss.
