Georgia had not lost to an unranked opponent in 53 straight tries. That streak is over, and the team that ended it had lost nine in a row in this series.
Auburn 27, No. 1 Georgia 24, in Athens. Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal went through as the clock hit zero, and Sanford Stadium emptied out in silence.
This was Auburn’s first win over Georgia since 2017 and its first in Athens in 21 years. Alex Golesh is in his first season running the program.
Byrum Brown Was the Best Player on the Field
Auburn trailed 14-0 in the first quarter. Dwight Phillips scored on a 15-yard run, Gunner Stockton found Lawson Luckie for 24 yards, and this looked like every other recent meeting between these two. Then Auburn scored 24 consecutive points.
Brown did most of it himself. He carried 26 times for 115 yards and a touchdown, and he went 15-of-26 for 150 yards and another score, including a nine-yard throw that Chas Nimrod pulled in with one hand. Christian Neptune added a 28-yard touchdown pass to Keshaun Singleton. Auburn led 17-14 at the break and 24-14 after a 76-yard march to open the third quarter.
Auburn outrushed Georgia 192 to 113. That is the number Kirby Smart will stew on all week, because Georgia built its decade of dominance on being the more physical team and it was not that on Saturday.
Georgia Beat Itself
Stockton finished 22-of-34 for 272 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he lost a fumble with 58 seconds left that handed Auburn the ball and the game. Elijah Melendez had an interception and a sack. AnQuon Fegans picked Stockton off before halftime.
Three turnovers and three personal fouls. A roughing-the-passer penalty moved Auburn into range for the winning kick. Smart said afterward that his team helped Auburn, and he called the penalties undisciplined and uncharacteristic. He is right on both counts.
Georgia did tie it. Stockton’s four-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys capped a 94-yard, 13-play drive with just under three minutes to go. Then Cody Sigler punched the ball out of Stockton’s hands, Sylvester Smith-Reed fell on it, and Auburn drove to the Georgia 19.
The Top Ranking Is Radioactive Right Now
Georgia had been No. 1 for exactly one week. The team that held the spot before them lost too. Per ESPN, this is the first time since October 1990 that the top-ranked team has lost in consecutive weeks.
Top-ranked teams had also won 93 straight home games against unranked opponents, a run going back to 2007. Auburn walked into Athens as a heavy underdog and took that streak down as well.
Georgia drops to 6-1 and 4-1 in the SEC, which keeps the playoff path open. The Bulldogs will be fine. Auburn is 4-2 and 2-2 with LSU coming to Jordan-Hare next Saturday, and the feeling around that program changed completely in one afternoon.
Golesh said he plans to build Auburn back to where everybody wants it, one game at a time. He just skipped a few steps.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.