Despite sluggish start, Georgia gets big win

By Tim Tucker

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Athens -- It could not have started worse. Georgia fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter and lost its best player, A.J. Green, early in the second.

And from such dire circumstances sprung the Bulldogs' biggest victory of the season.

Georgia rallied to beat Auburn 31-24 before 92,746 fans in Sanford Stadium Saturday night, with the UGA defense that seemed so overmatched early in the game staring down the Tigers at the finish.

The win improved the Bulldogs' record to 6-4 and made the team eligible for a postseason bowl game.

Georgia suffered two major injuries in the game:

-- Green did not return after injuring his left shoulder. He has an Acromioclavicular sprain, UGA said.

"He's out indefinitely," coach Mark Richt said after the game. "We're not sure for how long, but we'll find out." Richt suggested Green could  return for a bowl game.

-- And late in the game, after a scary collision with an Auburn receiver, safety Bacarri Rambo was carted off the field before a hushed crowd.

Rambo "was unconscious for a little while," Richt said. "When he came to, he moved every single part of his body. We think it's a concussion, and he didn't have any neck pain. The great news is, we don't feel like it's anything very serious in the long term."

The game started as a nightmare for the Bulldogs, with Auburn driving with apparent ease to touchdowns on its first two possessions and Georgia's offense doing nothing on its first two possessions.

With just over three minutes to play in the first quarter, Auburn led 14-0.

And by the end of the first quarter, Auburn had 145 yards offense on 23 plays and Georgia 5 yards on 7 plays.

It was a different ballgame after that.

"We were just laughing about it," Georgia quarterback Joe Cox said afterward. "We scored 31 points, beat Auburn, and we were getting booed in the first series."

The win was Georgia's fourth in a row over Auburn –- the Bulldogs' first four-game winning streak over the rival Tigers since the 1940s.

For Georgia, plagued all season by penalties and turnovers, the victory was notable for vast improvement in those areas. The Bulldogs did not commit a turnover for the first time this season, and they had only four penalties for 29 yards.

Auburn, on the other hand, committed two turnovers -– interceptions by Georgia's Brandon Boykin and Reshad Jones -- and had nine penalties for 60 yards.

"When you win the turnover battle," Richt said, "good things happen to your football team."

Georgia's defense facilitated the comeback. After Auburn's two early scores, the defense started putting pressure on Tigers quarterback Chris Todd and did not allow another touchdown. (Auburn's third touchdown came on a 99-yard kickoff return).

"When we got down 14-0, things could have certainly gone really wrong," Richt said. "But after that, the defense bowed their necks and held them to a field goal the rest of the game. I am very, very proud of what the defense did."

Georgia led twice in the second half (17-14 and 24-17) before 99-yard kickoff return by Auburn's Demond Washington tied the game at 24-24 early in the fourth quarter.

An Auburn turnover and penalty set up the Bulldogs' winning touchdown drive –- sort of ironic, given the Bulldogs' problems in those areas this season. Georgia's Jones returned an intercepted Todd pass 21 yards to the UGA 46, and a facemask penalty against Auburn advanced the ball to the Auburn 39.

From there, Georgia scored in four plays. The first three were runs by Washaun Ealey. The fourth was a 24-yard touchdown run up the middle by Caleb King, giving the Bulldogs a 31-24 lead with 6:52 to play.

Then it came down to the defense.

Auburn drove to the Georgia 22, threatening to tie the score in the waning minutes. After a loss of one yard to the 23 on a running play, Todd threw over the middle for Mario Fannin, who dropped the ball upon a hard hit by Rambo near the goal line.

A hush came over the crowd as Rambo lay motionless on the ground. Play was delayed for 12 tense minutes as Georgia's medical staff tended to Rambo. Finally, he regained consciousness, moved his arms and legs, and was lifted onto a backboard and carted off the field.

"It was pretty tough," Jones, the Georgia safety, said later. "Bacarri is like a brother to us, so when we saw him go down, we just wanted to finish out strong for him."

On the first play after the game resumed – Auburn facing third-down-and-11 from the UGA 23 -- Todd was sacked for a loss of seven yards by Georgia defensive end Cornelius Washington. A false-start penalty by Auburn on the next snap brought up a fourth-and-23 from the Georgia 35.

Georgia's Bryan Evans broke up a pass intended for Fannin in the end zone to clinch the Bulldog victory.

In a game of many big plays,   Richt said the biggest might have been a tipped pass that was caught by Georgia freshman tight end Orson Charles for a 34-yard gain in the third quarter. The pass might have been intercepted by Auburn linebacker Josh Bynes, but instead it bounced off Bynes' hands into Charles'. And it proved to be a pivotal play on the drive that gave Georgia its first lead of the game at 17-14.

And speaking of big plays, don't forget Israel Troupe's 50-yard touchdown reception on the first play after Green was injured.

"Troupe hasn't had that many opportunities to make plays, but he made an instant impact on the game," Richt said. "Auburn might have been saying, ‘Who's that guy?'"

The Dogs also ran the ball well, with Ealey carrying 18 times for 98 yards and King 10 times for 66.

"We knew we could beat them," Ealey said. "We just had a couple of things that didn't go our way in the first half."

-- Correspondent Jeff Haws contributed to this article.