Georgia football has had some iconic games in the 21st century against Auburn. Will we see another one on Saturday?
Georgia football looks to continue its dominant 2021 season in the 126th edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry Saturday on the Plains at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Ala.
Both teams are coming off big wins from last week. The No. 2 ranked Dawgs mauled the-then 8th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks 37-0 at home, while No. 18 Auburn went to Death Valley to tame the LSU Tigers.
As was mentioned earlier, these two teams have been going at it for a long time now. The first matchup took place on February 20, 1892 in Atlanta, a game won by the Tigers 10-0.
Georgia, however, leads the all time series 61-56-8. Since 2006, Georgia has dominated Auburn, winning 13 of the last 16 games between the teams, including four straight since 2017.
According to Auburn University, the “War Eagle” battle cry used by Auburn seemed to have originated from a Georgia-Auburn game. A spectator, who was said to be a Civil War veteran, pet eagle began circling the field during what turned out to be a touchdown drive for the Tigers. The fans watching began cheering on the team by saying “War Eagle!”, while the bird continued flying over them.
This 100-plus year old rivalry has had some classic moments and games. Here in the 21st century, we have seen some memorable moments from when these two teams have gone at it.
Here are just a handful of underrated games/moments from the 2000s-2010s that Dawg fondly look back on fondness. Iconic games such as the 2002 game, famous for a legendary Larry Munson call, and the first ever blackout game in 2007 won’t be included since we’ve heard about those so much over the years.
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.
2011: No. 15 Georgia 45, No. 20 Auburn 7
The 2010 season will be remembered by Auburn fans forever. Led by Heisman trophy winner and future No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Cam Newton, the Tigers ran through college football en route to a 14-0 season and BCS National Championship victory against Oregon.
The next season saw a drop off for the Tigers, with Newton and others from that 2010 squad in the NFL or graduated. The Dawgs took advantage on this day in Athens.
Georgia started the year 0-2 with losses coming to Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and at home to South Carolina. The Bulldogs would rally to win seven straight games coming into the Auburn game.
Georgia exploded on offense throughout this game, racking up 528 yards. Quarterback Aaron Murray was the hero in this one, as he went 14-for-18 with 224 yards and four touchdowns on the day, while also surpassing Matthew Stafford’s record for most passing touchdowns in a season by a UGA QB.
Running back Isaiah Crowell, the eventual 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year, had 132 rushing yards and a touchdown on the day. Teammate Carlton Thomas also had over 100 yards on the day, netting 127 while also averaging 8.5 yards per carry.
With this massive victory over Auburn, Georgia put themselves in position to clinch the SEC East division outright for the first time since 2005, which they would officially do the next week by beating Kentucky.
Georgia would finish that season 10-4 and, unfortunately, lost big to LSU in the SEC Championship game. They went on to play current Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins and the Michigan State Spartans in the Outback Bowl, but came up short 33-30 in third overtime.
2016: Georgia 13, No. 9 Auburn 7
2016 marked a new era for Georgia football. For the first time in 15 years, a man not named Mark Richt was roaming the sidelines as head coach of the Bulldogs.
This year, the Dawgs were being led by former Alabama Defensive Coordinator and UGA alum Kirby Smart. Coach Smart was having a pretty up and down first year as head coach of Georgia.
Going into the game, Georgia was unranked and had a 5-4 record. Looking back, they could have easily been 7-2 if it wasn’t for a certain Josh Dobbs Hail Mary pass or a successful 4th down conversion against Vanderbilt that would’ve given rising fan favorite Rodrigo Blankenship a chance to kick the game winning FG, like he did against Kentucky that season.
Regardless, the Dawgs were sniffing an upset on this day in Athens against a top 10 Auburn team that was looking for a spot in a New Year’s Six Bowl. This game would give us UGA fans a glimpse into what was to come for our Dawgs.
The Georgia defense smothered Auburn’s offense on this day. They allowed just 164 yards of total offense (80 of which came on Auburn’s only scoring drive in the first quarter), nine first downs, 37 passing yards, and provided Georgia’s only touchdown, as Alabama grad transfer Maurice Smith had a pick six in the third quarter to tie the game.
Jacob Eason had 208 yards passing on the day, while Nick Chubb and Sony Michel combined for 156 rushing yards on 33 carries. Rodrigo Blankenship was 2-for-3 on field goal tries, both coming in the fourth quarter that would turn out to be the difference maker in this game.
Georgia wrapped up that season with an 8-5 record and victory over TCU in the Liberty Bowl. Auburn also finished with an 8-5 record, and ended up receiving an invite to play in the Sugar Bowl against Oklahoma, which they lost.
Over the years, these two teams have provided us fans with some big time moments and games that we will remember forever. What iconic moment(s) will we see this Saturday in another edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry?