Three Underrated Georgia football games against Auburn this century

2006: Georgia 37, No. 5 Auburn 15

Coming into the Auburn game in 2006, the Georgia Bulldogs were 6-4 on the year and 3-4 in SEC play. It had started off promising, as the Dawgs were off to a 5-0 start to 2006.

However, they proceeded to go 1-4 in their next five games, with two of these losses coming against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Not exactly the season that the defending ’05 SEC Champions were hoping for.

Auburn, meanwhile, was 9-1 coming into the game and hoping to make an SEC and potentially a BCS Championship run. All they would have to do is take care of their two chief rivals in Georgia and Alabama over the next two weeks.

The Dawgs, meanwhile, had other plans for Coach Tommy Tuberville and his Auburn Tigers.

Led by true Freshman QB Matthew Stafford and DB Tra Battle, Georgia pounded the Tigers on their home field. Battle had three interceptions against Auburn that day, one of which was a pick six in the first half that would help Georgia take a 30-7 lead at halftime in front of a stunned home crowd.

The Tigers attempted a comeback, but it ultimately fell short as Georgia went on to upset fifth ranked Auburn 37-15 on the Plains.

Matt Stafford finished the day going 14-for-20 with 219 yards and two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing). Over the next two seasons, Stafford blossomed into one of the greatest UGA quarterbacks of all time, ultimately becoming the No. 1 overall pick of the Detroit Lions in 2009, where he spent 12 years before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.

Georgia finished 2006 with a 9-4 record and a victory over Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, while Auburn would defeat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl to finish 11-2.