Saturday’s game was one that Dawgs fans will be talking about for a long time…maybe a day or two?

Georgia Eighth win in a row against the Auburn Tigers in the 129th edition of “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” was a solid performance that was convincing Kirby Smarts The Bulldogs pull away in the fourth quarter.

But on a day full of big upsets in college football, where Vandy toppled No. 1 Alabama and Arkansas beat No. 4 Tennessee, the No. 5 Dawgs quietly took care of business and escaped the upset fever with a 31-13 score -Victory over their oldest team. constant rival.

Still, it wasn’t the kind of game that had Sanford Stadium fans roaring with joy. (More on this later.)

Quarterback Carson Beck hands the ball to Georgia back Trevor Etienne, who ran for 88 yards on Saturday. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

After playing uninspired in the first two games, Smart told ABC before kick-off on Saturday that he wanted his team to “start fast”.

I wouldn’t necessarily call what we saw in the first quarter against Auburn a fast start, but the Dawgs scored on their first drive of the game at running back Travis Etienne capped a methodical drive with a 2-yard score in the first of his two touchdowns of the day, and Georgia held the Tigers to just one field goal before the start of the second quarter.

But the rest of the first half remained largely a defensive battle, with the Dawgs using the quarterback to score another score Carson Beck He threw the first of his two TD passes in the game, this one Dominic Lovett, for a 14-3 Georgia lead at halftime.

Auburn attempted a 54-yard field goal attempt late in the second quarter, but it was blocked by a Georgia safety Dan Jackson, who played the entire game with his usual 110 percent performance. (The Dawgs’ D could use a few more like him.)

The second half also started slowly for the Dawgs as the offense scored a three-and-out on the first drive and at Auburn Jarquez Hunter — praised by Smart as the best running back Georgia has faced this season — managed a 38-yard TD dash to cut the score to an uncomfortably close 14-10 with 9:45 left in the third quarter.

Auburn running back Jarquez Hunter (27) is stopped by Georgia linebacker Raylen Wilson (5) and Georgia linebacker Chaz Chambliss (32) during Saturday’s game. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

One of the positive aspects of the game for Georgia was that the offense got back to its running game (mostly in the person of Etienne, with some help from the freshman). Nate Frazier), which was seen on the Dawgs’ next scoring drive, where nine of the 12 plays came on the ground. That drive culminated in Etienne’s second TD of the day.

Early in the fourth quarter, Auburn’s coach became a little desperate Hugh Freeze decided on the Tigers’ next drive, opting for a 4th-and-1 from his team’s own 44-yard line, only to have Dawgs linebacker Raylen Wilson Tigers QB sacked Payton Thorne for a 4-yard loss.

The Dawgs then took advantage of their excellent field position with a quick drive that ended with Beck throwing a short TD pass Dillon Bell to make the score 28-10.

Aided by penalties against the sloppy Dawgs, Auburn got back into scoring position with a 1st-and-goal at the Georgia 10, but the Dawgs’ defense stiffened and the Tigers conceded a field goal, making the score 28-13.

Dawgs running back Trevor Etienne rushes into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half against Auburn. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

Georgia then started another drive where punter Smart also decided to go for it on 4th and 1 and the Dawgs made it. A nice drive was ruined by a hail of yellow flags, leaving the Dawgs facing an unusual 1st-and-40, but they regained enough of the lost territory Peyton Woodring to add a 47-yard field goal to give UGA a 31-13 lead with 1:50 to play. And that’s how it ended.

Overall, it was a typical Georgia-Auburn slobberknocker game. Georgia generally had a good day on offense with no turnovers. The Dawgs’ mistakes mostly involved penalties, and the running game finally got going in the second half (let’s hope that trend continues). Smart stated after the game that he believes his team has a better attacking run than they have shown so far.

On the other side of the ball, the defense performed well overall, although there were still too many broken arm tackles. The Dawgs also allowed some explosive plays on defense, although Georgia’s offense also managed to get some long plays of their own.

Georgia defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins gets one of his two sacks from Auburn QB Payton Thorne. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

But the injury-plagued offensive line had an inconsistent day, allowing two sacks.

Beck completed 23 of 29 passes for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Etienne finally showed his star potential by running 16 times for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns and catching 6 passes for 36 yards. Georgia ran for 141 yards and had 381 yards of total offense in 66 plays.

Smart said after the game that he thought Georgia was getting close to what he thought the running game could do. “We have good backs,” he said. “We have a quarterback that gets us going and we’ve hit some of them for 20 and 30, but we don’t – and that’s frustrating. “A couple of times I thought we could cash them in, but we made a lot of plays in the running game.”

Georgia’s defense held the Tigers’ run-pass option offense to its season-low 13 points, but gave up 337 yards in 58 plays. The Dawgs’ leading tacklers were Jackson with 7 and Malaki Starks with 6. Defensive end Tyrion Ingram Dawkins had two of the Dawgs’ three sacks.

Georgia wide receiver Dillon Bell is congratulated by head coach Kirby Smart on his touchdown in the second half of the Auburn game. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

Summing up the day on defense, Smart said he was pleased that his team had several “opportunistic stops.” We had some fourth down stops that were great.”

Georgia now leads the all-time series with Auburn, 65-56-8.

While it wasn’t the most exciting game, overall it was still a very good day for the Dawgs, with unexpected losses for Alabama, Tennessee, USC, Missouri and Michigan setting the stage for teams to potentially contend for the title could, paved -big playoff slots. More chaos in college football is a good thing because it gives Georgia, already coming off a loss and facing a daunting schedule, some breathing room.

So that covers what happened on the field on Saturday. However, there is another aspect of the game that needs discussion after Smart deviated from his usual praise for the fans at Sanford Stadium and called the Georgia crowd a disappointment.

In his postgame conversation with DJ Shockley Speaking on the Bulldogs’ radio network, the Georgia head coach admitted it was “hot outside today” but said the fans lacked the passion that affects the game. “I can’t hear any crowd noise. … We have to do a better job as fans.”

He’s right that it wasn’t the most cheered Sanford Stadium crowd of the Smart era, but despite the heat, there were probably a few contributing factors.

It might come as a shock to the people who thought it was a good idea to close the Sanford Drive bridge to pedestrian traffic or serve cold hot dogs in the take-and-go zones, but not all about Dooley Field in Sanford The stadium contributes to a fun day for Georgia fans.

For one thing, my buddy Joel Provano I found the incessant and very loud music recording on Saturday to be a problem. “Maybe the crowd would be louder if there wasn’t 1,000 decibels of noise coming from the scoreboard,” Joel said. “You couldn’t have a conversation, couldn’t hear the PA announcer, couldn’t hear the referees. It was non-stop.”

This wasn’t a generational complaint for my daughter either Olivia agreed, saying the music was “so loud you can’t have a conversation; it’s uncomfortably loud.” Olivia also complained that she couldn’t hear the officers explaining the punishments because of the music.

Head coach Kirby Smart urged Georgia fans not to make enough noise at Sanford Stadium on Saturday. (Hyosub Shin/AJC) (HYOSUB SHIN / AJC/Dawgnation)

However, the way the Bulldogs’ season has gone so far may have more to do with the muted crowd noise than the stadium conditions.

Part of it may have been a remnant of the disappointing visit to Tuscaloosa the previous week, But mostly I think that’s because this team just hasn’t shown the kind of magic that really gets the crowd going.

Even Eric Zeier, In his post-game summary on the radio show, he described it as “workmanlike” and “pedestrian.” … the way we played and in the stands.”

Okay, so yes, Smart was right that the crowd at Sanford Stadium on Saturday wasn’t engaging and disruptive enough.

But here too it is fair to point out that this team has not been able to convince so far either.

This was Georgia’s first meaningful home game in a season that has seen too many away/neutral games, and this team is feeling deadlier than expected.

But Dawgs fans must realize that we are still witnessing the glorious era of UGA football. And we don’t get that many home games every year, so the fans have to do their part. As the 2022 victory over then-ranked Tennessee showed, the home crowd has the power to have a lasting impact on the game very positive Gone for the Dawgs.

So with the remaining home games this year (which includes another visit from Tennessee), let’s stretch ourselves a little and appreciate what we have in the Smart era.

FOLLOW BLAWG

To stay up to date on the latest UGA athletics developments and other happenings at the Junkyard, be sure to visit the new site Bill King’s Junkyard Blawg Page on Facebook and click “Like” to follow her!