Auburn gets impressive win over Georgia
Flashing championship credentials, Auburn took a major step toward forcing its way into the national title game.
Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown and the third-ranked Tigers dominated No. 8 Georgia in a 24-6 victory Saturday that could give Auburn the boost it needs in the Bowl Championship Series standings.
Auburn (10-0, 7-0 Southeastern Conference) was third in both polls and in the BCS standings behind Southern California and Oklahoma this week. The Tigers knew a big performance against the Bulldogs would go a long way toward convincing voters in The Associated Press media poll and coaches poll that they’re better than the second-ranked Sooners, no matter what Oklahoma does in its last three games.
If Auburn can move past the Sooners in the polls, it should be able to move past them in the BCS standings. The top two teams in the final BCS standings will play in the Orange Bowl for the national championship.
The Tigers made quite a case for themselves against Georgia (8-2, 6-2) in the 108th meeting of the oldest rivals in the SEC.
Auburn’s dynamic tailback tandem of Williams and Brown did it all offensively, combining for 260 yards of total offense and each scoring a touchdown.
Williams ran 19 times for 101 yards and caught four passes for 20 yards. He also threw a TD pass and returned a punt 40 yards to set up Brown’s 15-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter that made it 24-0.
Brown ran for 51 yards and caught seven passes for 88.
Georgia was scoreless for 57 minutes, before David Greene hit Leonard Pope with a 6-yard TD pass with 2:13 left.
Auburn’s defense held the Bulldogs to 279 yards and came up with two key takeaways deep in their own territory.
The second turnover came in the third quarter with Georgia trailing 17-0, but threatening to make it a game. Greene found Reggie Brown for what would have been a first down inside the Auburn 20, but safety Junior Rosegreen hammered Brown, causing a fumble that Will Herring scooped up for the Tigers.
Brown stayed down for several minutes after the helmet-to-helmet hit before slowly walking off. He missed the rest of the game with a concussion.
Greene was 15-for-22 for 159 yards and an interception. He also lost in an opponents stadium for just the second time in 17 games in his stellar career.
Auburn’s West Coast offense gave Georgia a variety of looks, mixed plays masterfully and used Brown and Williams every way they could on the way to a 17-0 halftime lead.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead on their first possession, completing an 80-yard march by running the option from the 1. Quarterback Jason Campbell waited until he was in the arms of a defender before pitching to Williams who walked in for his 44th career TD, one shy of Bo Jackson’s school record.
The Tigers got tricky again in the second quarter, sending Williams on what looked like a sweep right. Instead, he floated a soft pass to a wide-open Anthony Mix, who went 29 yards for a 14-0 lead.
While Williams and Brown did the big damage, Campbell directed the show. The SEC’s top-rated passer completed 18 of 22 passes for 189 yards in another near flawless performance.
Georgia had a couple of opportunities to break through in the first half against the second stingiest scoring defense in the nation, but failed to convert.
The best one came in the second quarter, when star defensive end David Pollack blocked a punt in Auburn territory. But Carlos Rogers picked off Greene’s pass in the end zone, just the second interception the left-hander had thrown this season.
The Tigers still have two tough tests left at Alabama next week and in the SEC title game on Dec. 4, most likely against Tennessee.