Georgia Bulldogs Ride the Gurley-Chubb Express to Big Win Over Auburn

The Georgia Bulldogs needed to win tonight against the Auburn Tigers, and win convincingly is exactly what they did.

If you came to Sanford Stadium hoping to see an aerial display, you came to the wrong place. The Bulldogs and Tigers are two teams that love to run the ball, and on this night, Georgia did it with much more success as they routed the Auburn WarTigerPlainsmen 34-7.

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Auburn scored on their initial drive, and used a mix of five passes and five runs for their touchdown, but after that it was all Georgia, and all Nick Chubb and Todd Gurley.

The return of Todd Gurley seemed to be off to an explosive start as he ran Georgia’s opening kickoff back for a touchdown, but unfortunately his effort was negated by a holding penalty. But that was one of the few mistakes made by Georgia during the entire game.

Gurley ran for 128 yards on 29 carries (one short of his career high), and had one rushing touchdown, passing Garrison Hearst for second all-time in UGA history. Partner in crime Nick Chubb finished with 144 yards on 19 carries, and had two touchdowns of his own. All total, the Bulldogs ran for 289 yards on Auburn, and shredded their defense for most of the night.

The big story was the Georgia defense, who played what was probably their most complete game of the season, limiting the normally explosive Auburn rushing attack to only 150 yards, which was 136 yards less than their season average per game. The Dawgs kept Auburn from hitting the big plays, and created three turnovers, upping their turnover margin to +16 for the season.

Special teams was once again an adventure, beyond the holding penalty on the Gurley kickoff return.

Mark Richt called for a fake punt early in the game which was beautifully executed for a possible touchdown, but once again was called back for a penalty…or so the officials said. A lineman was called for being illegally downfield, but replay showed he was well within his 3-yard zone of movement.

Then Auburn attempted to block a Georgia punt, and came within inches of doing it, but instead hitting punter Collin Barber, drawing a roughing the punter penalty, and keeping Georgia’s drive alive.

Hutson Mason had a typically solid game, only attempting 19 total passes, but throwing for 123 yards and one touchdown.

Near the end of the game, Todd Gurley went down with a knee injury. He was able to walk off under his own power, but was complaining of soreness on the outside of his knee, and will undergo testing on the ligament. Hopefully this will be a mere strain or bruise, and he’ll be able to rest it next week when the Bulldogs take on Charleston Southern.

A Missouri loss against Texas A&M, Tennessee or Arkansas would give Georgia the SEC East crown, and a trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship game against….? Hmmm…