ATHENS, Ga. — 34 yards. All week, Auburn was told it was an impossible task to take down the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, a team the Tigers had not beaten in Athens since 2005.
It turns out, all Auburn needed was 60 minutes of fight and 34 yards of flight from a ball off the right foot of Alex McPherson to take down the top-ranked Bulldogs.
Not only is the win Auburn’s first in Athens since 2005, but also the first in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry since 2017 on The Plains. Further, the Tigers’ victory in Athens is Auburn’s first win against a No. 1 team since that same 2017 season, when the Tigers beat No. 1 Georgia and No. 1 Alabama in the same season. For head coach Alex Golesh, it is his signature win in season one of his tenure on The Plains.
“That’s what I talked to these guys about last night,” Golesh said. “You have a limited amount of opportunities in life. You have no idea how many. You have to be able to capitalize on the opportunities you get; and it’s in football, it’s in life.”
Even more special for Golesh was the fact that his son had predicted the team to win earlier in the week, something that clearly lifted Auburn’s head coach and helped inject some belief into what was a very daunting Saturday matchup. As for what it did, Golesh had a simple answer.
“Sometimes it takes a 12-year-old to believe,” said Golesh.
Even with that belief, the game seemed to get off on the wrong foot for the Tigers. Georgia got the ball first, and the Bulldogs wasted no time taking advantage of a maligned Auburn defense. The first scoring drive took just 2:57 of game time and ended with a 15-yard touchdown run by Dwight Phillips Jr.
Auburn quickly went three-and-out on its first drive, giving the ball right back to the Bulldogs. The second Georgia drive was much like the first, with the second touchdown march taking just seven plays and 3:25 minutes. Tight end Lawson Luckie capped the second march with a 25-yard touchdown catch to give the home team a 14-point lead after just over eight minutes of game time.
The Tigers finally answered on the ensuing drive, marching 75 yards in nine plays, led by Byrum Brown and Jeremiah Cobb on the ground. The drive was capped with a bit of trickery, as Alex Golesh and Auburn’s offensive coordinator Joel Gordon reached deep into their bag of tricks on 2nd and 6.
Brown quickly pitched the ball to Christian Neptune, who then launched the ball downfield to receiver Keshaun Singleton, who put the brakes on and broke back in front of two Georgia defensive backs to secure a 24-yard touchdown catch and cut the deficit to seven.
After the score, the Auburn defense buckled down and forced consecutive Georgia punts. The Tigers’ offense took advantage, mounting an impressive 11-play, 64-yard march downfield that ended with a circus catch from Chas Nimrod for a 9-yard touchdown to tie the game 14-14 with just over six minutes to play before half.
The orange and blue added one more score before the half, this time off the foot of kicker Alex McPherson. The senior drilled a 49-yard field goal to give Auburn its first lead of the game, 17-14, with just under a minute and a half to go until halftime. The halftime lead was Auburn’s first in Sanford Stadium since 2016, a game that the No. 9 Tigers lost 13-7 to an unranked Georgia team after being shut out in the second half.
Auburn opened the second half with another sustained drive, once again methodically marching down the field in nine plays to complete a 76-yard scoring drive. Brown was instrumental in the drive, accounting for all but seven yards and sealing it with a five-yard rushing touchdown after a key block from tight end Arlis Boardingham.
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton threw an interception to Auburn’s Elijah Melendez on the following drive, Stockton’s second of the day. However, for the second time that afternoon, the Bulldogs’ defense forced a three-and-out, giving them the ball again on their own 27.
The next scoring drive came from the Bulldogs, who used a 14-play, 49-yard drive to get into field goal range. Peyton Woodring drilled the kick from 42 yards out to cut the Auburn lead to seven. The situation grew even more dire with under three minutes to play as the Bulldogs mounted a 13-play, 94-yard touchdown drive to tie the game at 24.
Auburn re-took possession but was forced to punt after just six plays, as Georgia took over with 1:12 to play and the game tied. However, the Tigers’ defense came up with its biggest play of the night. Defensive lineman Cody Sigler forced Stockton to fumble the ball on a scramble, and defensive back Sylvester Smith-Reed dove on it giving Auburn possession with 58 seconds remaining.
The Tigers methodically moved deeper into Bulldog territory over the next five plays, aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty on Georgia’s Gabe Harris Jr. With under ten seconds left, Byrum Brown scrambled forward again to set up a 34-yard field goal attempt for McPherson. Despite an icing attempt by Kirby Smart via a late timeout, Auburn’s senior kicker did not flinch, burying the kick to send No. 1 home with their first loss of the season.
“Honestly, I was like, ‘Did that just happen?’” McPherson said. “You know, it’s kind of the moment you dream of since you were a little kid. That’s my first ever game-winning field goal attempt, so it’s awesome to knock it down and to do that for our team.”
Byrum Brown also delivered an outstanding performance for Auburn in the win, throwing for 150 yards and rushing for 115. Brown threw two touchdowns and completed his first turnover-free performance against a Power-4 opponent as an Auburn Tiger.
“That’s Auburn football,” Brown said. “You know, we’re going to play collectively, play as a unit, play as a team. [This is] probably one of the most connected teams I’ve ever been on. So it was no heads down. Everyone, let’s just go make a play. Let’s go, let’s go do it.”
The defensive standout for the Tigers was Elijah Melendez, who led the way for Auburn with nine total tackles. Seven of the tackles were solo, and Melendez added a sack, a tackle for loss, a pass breakup, and an interception to his stellar line.
Though Auburn’s defense gave up some chunk plays through the air, the Tigers’ much-maligned rushing defense was rock-solid, allowing just 113 rushing yards to a vaunted Georgia rushing attack that returned running back Nate Frazier to the lineup for the game following an injury earlier in the season. Even with Frazier, Georgia’s entire rushing attack was unable to match the individual rushing output of Byrum Brown.
Auburn will next host an LSU team that entered the weekend ranked No. 22 in just seven days, and Golesh’s team must be vigilant. But for tonight, the Auburn Family can enjoy a win that has been 21 years in the making.
