Georgia football wins the 2017 SEC Championship with blowout of Auburn

Georgia football avenged their regular season loss to Auburn with a 28-7 spanking of the Tigers in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

We can finally say it again Georgia football fans: our Bulldogs are SEC Champions. Georgia crushed Auburn 28-7 in the rematch of last months game to win said Championship. Now the Bulldogs will slide into the top-4 and a spot in the College Football Playoff.

This team snapped a 12-year drought for the school and a nine-year drought for the SEC East. Georgia is now tied for second place with Tennessee for the second most SEC Championships with 13 all-time.

But early on you would be forgiven for panicking. After an atrocious pass interference call kept Auburn’s offense on the field, the defense surrendered a touchdown on the Tigers opening drive. The bad calls persisted, but Auburn’s offense didn’t. Led by Roquan Smith’s 12 tackles and two fumble recoveries, Georgia shut down Auburn the rest of the game.

That shut down included a strip-sack by Davin Bellamy in the red zone and a blocked field goal by Daquan Hawkins-Muggle. The strip-sack led to Georgia’s first points of the game. After Auburn had all the momentum, Jake Fromm led a great drive and finished with a pass to Isaac Nauta in the back of the end zone.

Georgia’s bid to go up 14-7 in the middle of the second quarter was stolen by another phantom penalty. As Fromm threw the ball out to a wide open Terry Godwin, officials ruled that Javon Wims interfered with defenders with a pick block. All replays showed that Wims was just running his routes and defenders engaged with him first.

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Rodrigo Blankenship did however kick a field goal to give Georgia a 10-7 lead. After Georgia’s first drive of the second half stalled, Auburn marched down field to tie or take the lead. They did neither. Auburn lined up for a field goal and Hawkin-Muggle batted it in the air where Dominick Sanders caught it. Blankenship made another field goal soon after to extend the lead to 13-7.

At that point, the game was a defensive battle. But Auburn began answering the field goal with a good drive. That was until the fourth quarter came. Immediately as play resumed, Kerryon Johnson fumbled. Smith recovered and ran the ball nine yards.

Four plays later, Fromm found Godwin open one-on-one in the end zone for a touchdown. The referees didn’t take that one away. Right after, Fromm hit Godwin on the opposite side of the field for a two-point conversion. That gave the Dawgs a 21-7 lead.

Then the final nail in the coffin came. With just over 10 minutes left and Georgia just trying to run out the clock, D’Andre Swift dodged and outran defenders on route to a 64-yard touchdown run. Georgia then led 28-7. There was still plenty of time left but as the seconds ticked, it became clear that the game was over. Auburn only managed a total of 14 yards on their final two possessions.

Players doused coaches with Powerade, confetti flew, and Georgia raised an SEC Championship Trophy. Roquan Smith earned MVP honors for his dominant performance as he continued to show why he’s the best defensive player in college football.

Next: Saturday was still an amazing day in Georgia vs Auburn history

Jake Fromm completed 16-of-22 passes for 183 yards with three touchdowns. He recovered from several early sacks and orchestrated Georgia’s offense to 28 unanswered points. Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and D’Andre Swift combined for 210 rushing yards. Swift led the group with 88 yards on just seven carries.

Georgia contained Auburn’s rushing attack to just 114 yards. Kerryon Johnson only rushed for 44. Jarrett Stidham, after completing his first eight passes, finished 16-of-32 with 145 yards. Georgia’s defense completely decimated Auburn’s offense in the final 55 minutes.

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