'We let it slip': Auburn driven by narrow Georgia loss last year

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'We let it slip': Auburn driven by narrow Georgia loss last year

ByNathan King 48 minutes ago

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Everyone on the Auburn sideline was completely assured the Tigers were taking the game to overtime. The deafening and rabid energy inside Jordan-Hare Stadium helped their cause.

Facing a 21-0 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter against Georgia last season, Auburn’s offense started clicking and exploding for a pair of touchdowns. Its defense suffocated Jake Fromm and the Bulldogs, giving Bo Nix and company a chance to tie it up with a few minutes left on the clock and complete the furious rally.

Auburn fans remember the heartbreak that came with the incomplete pass on 4th-and-2 to Harold Joiner, but there were other chances. Gus Malzahn pointed to the overturned, 17-yard completion on a back-shoulder throw to Seth Williams. If upheld, Auburn would have had a first down inside Georgia’s 20-yard line. Auburn also got the ball back with 2 minutes left.

“It was a tough, tough loss,” Malzahn said this week. “... It was a tough overturn. I think that made a difference in the game. I thought Bo did a really good job of bringing us back. In the fourth quarter I felt like we really had a chance with his leadership.”

(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)

When Georgia moved to its base defense, up three touchdowns, Nix brought a previously stagnant Auburn offense to life. Between the back-to-back touchdown drives, the true freshman was scorching for a 12-of-13 stretch with 120 yards and a passing and rushing score before missing the easy roll-out to Joiner and going four-and-out on the final drive. Georgia clinched its third straight trip to Atlanta for the SEC title game.

“The whole offense fought,” Nix said after the game. “We competed our guts out there at the end. Unfortunately, we just didn't make enough plays.”

As Georgia knelt out the clock, the cameras cut to Nix on the sideline, still with his helmet on, eyes closed, undoubtedly thinking about the opportunities he missed. “Bo, don’t worry about it,” SEC on CBS announcer Gary Danielson said at the time. “There will be many more.”

Nix and Auburn will get that next opportunity sooner than expected.

In the first iteration of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry before November since 1936, No. 7 Auburn has a chance to eradicate last year’s demons with a primetime throwdown in Athens against the No. 4 Bulldogs in one of the biggest matchups thus far of the young college football season.

“We’re coming back with a chip on our shoulder because we lost to them last year,” running back Shaun Shivers said. “We’re just motivated to play.”

Auburn wrangled with Kentucky in its season opener for a good chunk of the afternoon before Nix's trio of touchdown passes allowed AU to pull away for a 29-13 win.

"He's got a vertical passing game," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said this week of his early impressions of Nix this year. "He's got a great arm. He makes really good decisions. I think — not the dink and dunk — it's the decision-making (ability) he has that gives him the opportunity to not throw picks. Smart quarterbacks avoid picks because they don't throw into situations that are adverse."

Georgia was down 7-0 early to Arkansas and trailed 7-5 at the half before a quarterback switch helped Smart's squad find its footing. Former walk-on Stetson Bennett IV completed 20-of-29 passes for 211 yards and two touchdowns as Georgia eventually won going away in Fayetteville, 37-10.

Auburn doesn't know whether it will be Bennett, Arkansas game starter D'Wan Mathis or recently cleared USC transfer JT Daniels under center for the Bulldogs on Saturday. The Tigers are leaving that up to defensive coordinator Kevin Steele's trusted preparations and inevitable in-game adjustments, like they made so successfully against Kentucky. They don't care who's at quarterback, where they're playing or how early in the season the game is. Eager to avenge last season's loss, Auburn would kick off tomorrow if it could.

“Man, I'm fired up just to play, man” senior defensive end Big Kat Bryant, a Georgia native, said. “We let it slip from us last year over here at our house. Like I said earlier, man, it's going to be real big just to go over there and take that win. Take that win. That's what I'm looking forward to. I'm just excited and pumped and ready to play.”