ATHENS — Auburn’s offense had no solutions to Georgia’s defense in Saturday’s 45-7 loss.
The Tigers (6-4, 4-3) were physically dominated in a game that they thought they were well-prepared for.
As a result, Auburn was held to 195 yards, its worst offensive performance this season and the first time the Tigers failed to produce more than 200 yards since LSU limited them to 193 in 2009.
“There’s a whole lot I can’t tell you that you didn’t see,” coach Gene Chizik said.
It was a different result for the Tigers when compared with last year’s 49-31 victory over Georgia. The Tigers had 463 yards in that game, including 315 rushing, and they had Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton. The future No. 1 pick in the NFL draft guided the offense to nine school records and the team to the BCS championship.
After using a trick play to score on their opening drive Saturday, the Tigers mustered little else. Auburn came in ranked second in the SEC in rushing offense (191.1 ypg). However, running back Michael Dyer gained 48 of the team’s season-low 51 rushing yards.
“We thought because we scored on the first drive it would be easy, and it went downhill from there,” Dyer said.
The lack of a running game affected the offense, offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn said.
“We are an offense that needs to get into a rhythm,” Malzahn said. “They were daring us to throw and we threw it early, but we’ve got to get more rushing yards.”
Quarterback Clint Moseley had 140 yards passing, but was sacked five times and threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
“I can’t pinpoint one thing ... or even two things,” Moseley said.
The Tigers’ only touchdown came when wide receiver C.J. Uzomah took the handoff and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen. The play tied the score 7-7 with 6 minutes, 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Unable to establish a running game or passing game, Malzahn called more trick plays.
The Tigers tried a reverse that Dyer fumbled for a turnover at the Auburn 40-yard line. The Bulldogs took advantage of the short field to tack on another touchdown that increased their lead to 21-7 with 10:36 remaining in the second quarter.
“It kind of went downhill from there,” Malzahn said.
Moseley threw an interception on the Tigers’ next possession that Bacarri Rambo returned 24 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 28-7 lead.
“I saw Abry [Jones] waving for me to come that way, so I did, and those guys just helped me into the end zone,” Rambo said. It was his seventh interception and the first defensive score for the Bulldogs this season.
The Tigers tried a fake screen on third-and-12 with less than a minute remaining in the first half. On the play, Dyer ran to the right and held his hands up as if the pass were coming to him. Instead, Moseley ran the other direction where he was sacked by John Jenkins for a 3-yard loss. It set up a fourth down that the Tigers couldn’t convert.
“We had very short-lived success offensively, whether we passed or ran,” Chizik said. “That’s the end of the story.”
