The Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs engaged in a tense SEC affair on Saturday, with Georgia picking up a 20-13 road win thanks in large part to a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown by Isaiah McKenzie in the fourth quarter. Here's our notes, quotes, and observations from a big win for UGA.
Notes:
After Saturday's loss, Auburn is now 2-8 in its last 10 SEC games. It's 5-8 overall under Gus Malzahn since the team's BCS Championship appearance two years ago.
UGA's defense has given up just 22 points over the course of its last three wins. In fact, they've given up less than 20 points in all but one of their seven wins this year.
Speaking of the Bulldogs defense, they allowed just 62 yards through the air and forced three turnovers on Saturday. Two of those turnovers came on fumble recoveries by Aaron Davis.
Auburn starting QB Jeremy Johnson had a solid day from a completion rate standpoint (14-of-22), but all 14 of those passes were check-downs. Tigers receivers picked up just 3.3 yards per completion.
Quotes:
"Show your class, show your character." -- Gus Malzahn to his locker room following the loss.
"They're all sweet. Blog posts, 40 inch stories, 2 inch columns." -- Atlanta Journal Constitution writer Jeff Schultz paraphrasing Mark Richt's thoughts on Internet criticism.
"We just didn’t get it done. I think that’s the best way to put it." -- Malzahn on the loss.
"I wish I didn't." -- Richt on whether he knew that assistant coach Mike Ekeler had injured cornerback Rico McGraw with a slap to the helmet.
Observations:
Auburn fans are starting to get restless. Former HC Gene Chizik went 11-14 in the two years following Auburn's BCS title game win before getting fired. Malzahn is 13-10 since taking Auburn to the BCS title game in his first year, but the difference is the Tigers didn't get the job done in that championship game. Is it time for the Malzahn era to end?
Georgia, at 7-3, has a good shot at hitting double-digit wins for the fourth time in five years under Mark Richt. While calls for Richt's head have gotten louder and louder during UGA's fall from the College Football Playoff hunt the past six weeks, it's remarkable what he's done with the team after Nick Chubb's season-ending injury and the host of other pitfalls that have befallen the program in 2015.
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