A week after losing its first game of the season, Georgia rebounded and defeated Auburn in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. The Bulldogs have not lost two in a row since the 2018 SEC Championship against Alabama and then to the Longhorns in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. The win over the Tigers was the Dawgs eighth straight in the series. Georgia now has a 65-56-8 advantage in the all-time series. Georgia won by the score of 31-13. The 13 points is pretty close to what Auburn averages since Kirby Smart took over in Athens. Here is how the Dawgs have defended against the most common opponents since 2016 (minimum five matchups).
Mississippi State (Georgia’s next opponent) has averaged 15.3 points in the three games against Smart and the Dawgs.
Georgia has faced Auburn 129 times overall. That is the most by any Georgia opponent. Georgia and Mississippi State have only faced each other 26 times. Here is a list of the SEC teams (including the two new ones) that Georgia has faced the least.
The series with the other Bulldogs started back in 1914, but the two would not meet again until 1950. The team from Starkville won three of the first four meetings, but have won just three times since then. Besides Athens and Starkville, this conference clash has also been held in Atlanta and Jackson, Mississippi.
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After throwing for just 54 percent against Alabama, Carson Beck completed 79.3 percent of his passes (23-for-29) vs. Auburn. Beck holds the Georgia career record for completion percentage at 69.8 percent. As a starter, he is slightly better at 70.6 percent. Here is a breakdown of his percentages and the team’s record in those games.
One of the biggest stars for Georgia last week was Trevor Etienne. Etienne rushed for 88 yards and had 36 yards receiving. Both were his highs as a Bulldog. He also had two touchdown rushes and a career-high six receptions. Having two scores on the ground with that many receptions is rare for a Georgia player. The last one prior to Etienne to do that was Robert Edwards in the 1996 four-overtime game against Auburn. This season, only five FBS players have reached this feat.
Dominic Lovett caught one of the two touchdown receptions for the Bulldogs. It was his second score of the season and his sixth with Georgia. Lovett played for Missouri in his first two seasons. While his scoring is already better with the Dawgs, the other numbers are catching up.
On defense, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins notched two sacks (both in the first quarter). He leads the team this season with three. He only had one sack in his first three seasons. Here are the Bulldogs that have had at least two sacks since the beginning of the 2021 season.
Dan Jackson is currently tied for the team lead this season in tackles with 26. Last Saturday, Jackson also added a blocked field goal. Back in 2021, he also blocked a punt against Arkansas. Under Kirby Smart, there have been seven blocked punts and eight blocked field goals and Jackson is the only one to be on both lists.
