Auburn’s offense struggled, the defense had trouble tackling, and what felt like an inevitable surge of offense came to fruition as Georgia physically demoralized the Tigers in a 27-10 win tonight in Athens.

The Bulldogs got a huge rushing performance from D’Andre Swift, and Jake Fromm had his usual efficient outing, as Georgia got one hurdle out of the way before the SEC Championship Game. Swift finished the game with 186 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, while Jake Fromm threw for two touchdowns in the win.

Auburn took the opening possession of the game and gained two first downs before being forced to punt, and Georgia rolled right down the field before stalling at the goal line. Rodrigo Blankenship hit a short field goal to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The Tigers’ second drive started with Boobee Whitlow hitting a run for 11 yards and a first down, and he’d finish it several plays later on a Wildcat touchdown pass to John Samuel Shenker to give Auburn a 7-3 lead. That drive went 75 yards in 8 plays, taking just 2:33 off the clock.

Georgia’s second drive of the game also reached the red zone, as they drove inside the five. A targeting penalty on Big Kat Bryant on a third-down sack gave the Bulldogs new life, but they were held out of the end zone and settled for another field goal to close the gap to 7-6 a few minutes into the second quarter.

Auburn moved inside the five again as the second quarter began, but failed on a third down and had to settle for a short Anders Carlson field goal to retake a four-point edge at 10-6, but Georgia answered. The Bulldogs pushed into the red zone and Jake Fromm found Tyler Simmons for a 14-yard touchdown to put Georgia back on top at 13-10. Then, at the end of the first half, Georgia converted a 4th-and-3 and scored a late touchdown on a 38-yard strike to Terry Godwin to double Auburn up with 21 seconds left.

The third quarter passed without incident as both teams punted away to each other, although Jamel Dean snagged an interception to sniff out a Georgia drive near the red zone. Still, Auburn’s offense couldn’t find a way to stay on the field, and it started to show more with the defense getting tired. D’Andre Swift hit a 77-yard touchdown a minute into the final period that looked awfully familiar to his touchdown in the SEC Championship last year, and with the score at 27-10, Auburn was in trouble.

Justin Fields came in to spell Jake Fromm on the Bulldogs’ next drive, as they moseyed deep into Auburn’s end. That drive resulted in a failed fake field as Rodrigo Blankenship tried to hit Isaac Nauta in the end zone, but Auburn took over on downs and the ensuing drive ended the game.

Georgia rolled up 518 yards overall, with 303 coming on the ground. Auburn, meanwhile, scored only three points over the final three quarters, and accrued only 274 total yards in the loss.

The Tigers drop to 6-4 overall with Liberty next weekend for the final home game of the season. Georgia improves to 9-1 and continues its drive for a second-straight appearance in the Playoff.

FINAL STATS

TEAM OFFENSE

AUBURN

• Total Yards: 274
• Passing Yards: 172
• Rushing Yards: 102
• Penalties: 6-52
• Third Down: 3-11

GEORGIA

• Total Yards: 518
• Passing Yards: 213
• Rushing Yards: 305
• Penalties: 12-85
• Third Down: 8-14

STAT LEADERS

PASSING

AUBURN: Jarrett Stidham - 24-36, 163 yards; Boobee Whitlow - 1-1, 9 yards, 1 TD

GEORGIA: Jake Fromm - 13-20, 193 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

RUSHING

AUBURN: Shaun Shivers - 4 carries, 43 yards; Jarrett Stidham - 6 carries, 36 yards; Boobee Whitlow - 9 carries, 26 yards

GEORGIA: D’Andre Swift - 17 carries, 186 yards, 1 TD; Elijah Holyfield - 15 carries, 93 yards

RECEIVING

AUBURN: Ryan Davis - 13 catches, 72 yards; Seth Williams - 3 catches, 38 yards

GEORGIA: Terry Godwin - 3 catches, 84 yards, 1 TD