defenders deal with bitter defeat

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Auburn defenders deal with bitter defeat

ByPhillip Marshall

4-5 minutes

Auburn's defense forced 11 Georgia punts. (Photo: Todd Van Emst, Auburn University)

AUBURN, Alabama – On 14 Georgia offensive possessions Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn forced 11 punts, gave up just 3-of-15 third-down conversions and 251 yards. But the Bulldogs cashed in with touchdowns on the only three scoring opportunities they had, and that was enough to escape Jordan-Hare Stadium with a 21-14 victory.

As Auburn fought back from a 21-0 deficit in the fourth quarter, the defense held Georgia without a first down, forcing four consecutive three-and-outs. For senior defensive tackle Derrick Brown, closing in on a massive NFL payday, none of it was enough to take away the bitter taste of defeat in his last game against his homestate school.

“It was a tough one,” Brown said. “We didn’t play very well on defense. If they’d never scored 21 points, we wouldn’t have been in that situation. Nobody did their job tonight. All three phases we lacked tonight. You can’t do that and expect to beat the No.  5 team in the country.”

Auburn players, especially seniors, expected more than to be 7-3 at this point in the season. But with home games remaining against Samford next Saturday and Alabama a week later, they vowed to not give up the fight.

“We don’t give up,” Brown said. “I don’t care who you are or where you came from, we’re bred not to give up here. It doesn’t matter if it was 48-0, we are going to keep playing until the final horn goes off.”

Senior safety Jeremiah Dinson said that was the message he shared with his teammates in the unhappy locker room after the game.

“I had expectations for the team and myself, but you learn from these types of things,” Dinson said. “As a leader, I have to keep my head up and go to work. This is the job, just telling my guys to keep pushing and finish. We played well. I feel like we could have done some things better, but we played well. We were excellent on third downs. That's all you can say. You just play your heart out for four quarters and live with the results."

It appeared the game would go to halftime with Georgia leading 7-0, but the final minutes of the second quarter proved costly for Auburn.

The Tigers drove from their own 15 to the Georgia 37, but quarterback Bo Nix was stripped of the ball and lost a fumble with 3:18 left. Georgia went nowhere and Auburn took over at its own 29 after a punt. Three incomplete passes used just 21 seconds. After a punt, Georgia took over at its own 19 with 1:19 left.

After Deandre Swift ran for 5 yards on first down. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn called timeout, giving the Bulldogs more time. Swift had runs of 16 and 26 yards. A pass interference penalty was crucial. And with 20 seconds left, quarterback Jake Fromm’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Brian Herrien made it 14-0.

“I was thinking, I got a lot of faith in our defense,” Malzahn said. “And you know, you call a timeout. Of course, they went down and scored. Obviously, that didn't work out. But they had the ball coming out the second half and I was thinking we had the chance to get the ball back right there with a possible short field.”

An 88-yard Georgia drive made it 21-0 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter. From there, Auburn’s defense took over and the offense began to roll. But it wasn’t enough.

“It’s very tough,” senior defensive end Marlon Davidson said. “You try to play a perfect game, but in college football, you can never play a perfect game no matter what. I don’t care what school you play against. Just knowing you did all that and you can’t come in the locker room and enjoy it, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”

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