KERRYON JOHNSON
32 carries for 167 yards rushing
2 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown
NICK CHUBB
11 carries for 27 yards
Auburn 40 Georgia 17. My last words on my late last post on Friday were: "This game really sets up well for Auburn. The Tigers even with Malzahn are due to play well against Georgia. Georgia is a running team with a freshmen quarterback coming to Jordan Hare. AUBURN IS THE UNDERDOG even though they have a very good team. I mean this is the perfect storm..." I certainly did not see an Auburn blowout win coming but this really seemed like the perfect situation for the Tigers in a really big game. That definitely turned out to be the case as the Auburn coaches and players took advantage of this great situation and did their best job of the season and annihilated the Georgia Bulldogs. This Tiger storm washed away a lot of frustration and heartache against Georgia in one glorious night. No mater what happens in two weeks this game mattered, a LOT.
Where do you start? I will start with my walk to the stadium. There were Georgia people everywhere and by time I had reached my seat I had just had enough. I had enough of stupid losses to inferior Georgia teams the last two seasons. I had enough of the blowouts to Georgia like in 2014, 2012, 2011, 2007, 2006 and 2003. I had enough of the close losses like in 2002, 2008 and 2009. Since blowing out Georgia in 1999, our only wins have been in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2010 and 2013. In the last 17 years, our only two convincing wins were by two of the best teams in Auburn history in 2004 and 2010. The others were in overtime or on the last play of the game. I mean we only have six wins in 17 years against these guys, only six! ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH. The mantra started weeks ago... BEAT GEORGIA. BEAT GEORGIA. BEAT GEORGIA.
The pregame at Jordan Hare was amazing. It was another one of those rare games where something was in the air, you could feel it. Georgia was coming in undefeated and #1 in the country. The flyover was incredible and the eagle soared within 15 feet of my seat. It was so loud by kickoff... the stage was set... I was feeling good... and then Georgia drove it right down our throat for a quick touchdown and 7-0 lead. I was shocked. I just did not see that coming. I did not see Jake Fromm hitting that pass on the first drive. I knew we were better than that and we were. Georgia would not score another touchdown till the game was decided. After that drive the Auburn defense rose up and turned in a performance that will become legend. They held the #1 Georgia Bulldog rushing attack, the best in the SEC, to 46 YARDS (!!!???!!!), 46 YARDS ON OVER 30 CARRIES.
After that opening drive, the Auburn defense thoroughly dominated the Georgia offense. The defense also had four sacks and held the Bulldogs under 250 total yards. It was a thoroughly dominating performance from top to bottom, from the line to the secondary and back. This defense is a special group. They have chemistry and leadership. "The Sensei" Jeff Holland and Marlon Davidson leading the line, DeShaun Davis and Tre Williams leading the linebackers and Tray Matthews and Carlton Davis leading the secondary. There are a lot more leaders and playmakers I am leaving out on all those units as well. The guys started the season on fire and have rarely let down. They certainly did not yesterday and put up their finest performance of the season. They will give Auburn a chance in two weeks.
Auburn just has a unique history of running backs. Frankly it is amazing. Through the years they just keep coming, in my lifetime... Joe Cribbs, James Brooks, Lionel James, Bo Jackson, Brent Fullwood, James Joseph, Stacy Danley, James Bostic, Stephen Davis, Rudi Johnson, Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Kenny Irons, Ben Tate, Michael Dyer, Tre Mason, Kamryn Pettway and now... Kerryon Johnson. You saw the talent the last two seasons but he was held up by freak injuries and Pettway stole the show last season. This season as people left and Pettway got in trouble and then got hurt it all came down to Kerryon. Everyone including me kept thinking another injury would get him and that he was just not meant to be the every-down-thirty-carry type running back. Well we were wrong. Look at the line for the game: 32 carries for 167 yards rushing plus two catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Kerryon was amazing. He is just such a smart player. He did such a good job selling that he was blocking before flaring out on that last touchdown. He also does as good a job at reading his blocking as any running back I have ever seen at Auburn. He followed the Auburn offensive line and they led the way for him dominating in the trenches. The line did a great job especially considering the constant shuffling having to be done due to injuries. Jarrett Stidham completes the package with his continual improvement at quarterback. This guy is good. He will always be under utilized in the Malzahn offense but he still stands out. With all the team's success, I have still seen a few "what-ifs" about Sean White the last two seasons. I do not understand it, a fully healthy Sean White is just not near the quarterback Stidham is.
Much of the success for the Tigers this year has been because of the huge upgrade at quarterback. Stidham just gives that next dimension to the passing game. He is good on the short and long throws. He is strong and accurate. He needs to get a lot faster on his reads but unfortunately he will not learn that under Malzahn. The coaches obviously called a better game than usual against Georgia. They absolutely burned the Bulldogs on the two reverse screens for touchdowns. Those were brilliant calls. The most glaring error that continues to kill Auburn in the red zone is not throwing on second down. They continue to wait for third down when they have to pass. If they want to turn around their touchdown percentage in the red zone, they have to throw early and not wait till third down. Put the ball in Stidham's hands. He is your guy.
Luckily most of the mistakes were made by Georgia. The Bulldogs are a very good team but their weak schedule and Auburn's play forced them to make a lot of mistakes. They looked amazing on the first drive and then the bottom fell out. Jake Fromm missed a wide open touchdown pass, they committed numerous dumb penalties and turned the ball over on a muffed punt to start the second half. Their defense held them in it and the Bulldogs had a chance to make it a two point game at the half. Georgia was in business at the Auburn 26 yard line with 22 seconds left and no timeouts. The only play especially when you are down is to take two shots in the end zone and then kick the field goal. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart decided to run up the middle??? That had to be have been one of the dumbest calls I have seen this season.
Georgia missed the field goal after the dumb call and Auburn was up 16-7 at the half. Jarrett Stidham would take it in for the touchdown to close the drive after Auburn recovered the fumbled punt. Ryan Davis would take it to the house on the next drive burning an obvious Bulldog blitz. Kerryon would burn them later over pursuing again. I then got to watch two of the best signs that maybe Gus Malzahn is changing a little. They had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with a change of mindset. First, Gus challenged a generous spot for Georgia late in the game when it was well in hand. That is a change in mindset. Next backup quarterback Malik Willis was allowed to pass on last drive of the game with all the subs in. Those two seemingly insignificant events spoke volumes to me. I hope they are signs of change.
My final thoughts are on the amazing atmosphere before, during and after the game at Jordan Hare. I have already talked about the pregame and it was amazing but it just kept getting better as the game went on. The crowd was awesome and the students were incredible. I have not seen the students that into a game in a long time. I also loved Auburn bringing back a little "Soulja Boy" as payback for Georgia's little dance party in 2007. Great job to whoever had that idea. It has just been so long coming against Georgia that I think everyone enjoyed every minute of it. Of course there is only one place to go after an Auburn win of this magnitude and that is Toomers. My Dad, son and myself headed to Toomers immediately following the game and I saw something I have never seen before and I have been to a lot of games. It seemed the entire stadium was heading to Toomers, everybody! The scene when you got to Toomers was just as amazing. The masses seem to cover the entire block as the Auburn family celebrated the biggest win on the plains since the Kick Six.
This one is now in the books and again no matter what happens in two weeks, it was a deeply significant win. However the Iron Bowl is the Iron Bowl and this will be the second one to decide the SEC West Championship. My early thoughts are Bama is a little bit better than Georgia on offense. I am not sure they are better on defense but I think they will be coached better. You would think Kirby Smart knows Gus pretty well but he made some mistakes I do not think Bama will make. Auburn on the other hand is as good as the Tide and will be at home. Bama is suffering a bit like Georgia from a ridiculously easy schedule. Auburn has had some easy ones as well but has been to Clemson and had to travel to Baton Rouge where Bama's close win over Mississippi State was by far its toughest game of the season. It is shaping up to be another great one and I can only hope it all turns out like this win for the ages over a #1 ranked Georgia team.
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