Although Georgia’s offense continues searching for its identity, running back Trevor Etienne is beginning to show why snatching him away from archrival Florida was considered such a big deal.

If not for the play of the junior from Louisiana, there’s a good chance Saturday afternoon’s game against rival Auburn would not have had a happy ending.

But thanks to some determined play by Etienne who accounted for 130 total yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs, who eased past Auburn.

“I’ll say I had a good game, but I wouldn’t say I had a breakout game,” Etienne said. “It was alright.”

So, what could have been better?

“A lot,” he said. “I could have had over 100 yards, but it’s not about me at the end of the day. We came out victorious and that’s all that matters.”

Of Etienne’s 124 yards, 88 came on 16 rushing attempts before catching a team-high six passes for an additional 36.

“I wouldn’t say that (the six receptions) was a point of emphasis, but if it can help the team, we’re all for it,” Etienne said. “I didn’t know I was going to have the most catches tonight. But it happened that way and we got the victory. That’s all that matters.”

Georgia needed them all.

Despite the 31 points, it was at times another disjointed showing by the offense, which struggled to hit big plays for most of the game.

Only three did the Bulldogs hit an explosive play 23 yards or longer, that coming courtesy of Etienne who scored touchdowns in each half on runs of 2 and 1 yard, respectively.

“With Trevor, it was more than the touchdowns. Obviously, touchdowns are great, but that's not what it's about,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “It's about the hard yards. It's about the third and ten catch that he gets and makes it fourth and one. It's about the fourth and one play that he gets it and makes one. He's earned really hard yards. He is a great leader. He is a great kid.

“He's an explosive player. But I thought today he got winded, he got tired. I mean, he was tired in the game.”

Left tackle Earnest Greene III said Etienne is becoming one of the better leaders on the team.

“As y’all can see, he’s ultra-talented. But he’s also a really good teammate,” Greene said. “He’ll come up and talk to the O-line talking about fronts, different looks and stuff.”

Greene said Etienne’s 23-yard run helped boost the spirits of the offense, which scuffled until the big first-down run.

“Definitely. When you bust a big run in your back yard at home, in your back yard, it gets the crowd revved up,” Greene said. “It’s one of those momentum boosters for sure.”

Etienne hopes there’s more to come.

“I get the credit for it, but it really goes to the O-line,” Etienne said. “They played great. They had a great game. I had the easy part.”