Georgia football faced Auburn for the 130th time in their history Saturday night, and once against they came away with a big victory. It may not have been pretty, but Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs did just enough to take down the Tigers 20-10.
But what can Georgia learn from this game? On the flip side, what should the Bulldogs celebrate the most? While it may be hard to choose, there are a few things that stand out from Georgia's ninth straight victory over Auburn.
Here are five gigantic observations from the Georgia football win over Auburn
1. Will Georgia ever play well in a first half?
Apparently Georgia has no clue how to start a game well. Sure they played well against Kentucky last week in the first half, but Georgia is yet to start strong in a game agianst a good opponent.
That once again took place against Auburn who went up and down the field and took a quick 10-0 lead. Georgia's defense had no answer for Auburn's offense, and the Bulldogs offense only ran 11 plays through the first 28 minutes of the game.
If Georgia is going to win anything of significance this season, they need to find a way to show up in the first half going forward.
2. Viral Jackson Arnold fumble gave Georgia new life
Auburn was closing in on taking a 17-0 lead late in the first half, but that is when the craziest play of the season unfolded.
The Tigers had the ball on the Georgia 1-yard line and decided to QB sneak it with Jackson Arnold. As Arnold extended for the goal line, Georgia punched the ball out and recovered the fumble. The officials called a fumble on the field, but multiple replay angles made it look like Arnold got the ball across the goal line before fumbling. But the officials determined there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the fumble, so the call on the field stood as called.
This clearly was a huge break for Georgia as they avoided going down by three scores. However, Kyron Jones appeared to have recovered the ball on top of another Bulldogs back and ran 100 yards for what he thought was a Georgia touchdown.
Even though Georgia wasn't awarded that touchdown, they have to be extremely thankful the refs ruled the Arnold keeper a fumble. Instead of falling behind 17-0, Georgia scored a field goal to make it 10-3 at the half which gave them a chance heading into the second half.
3. Georgia's offensive line answered the call
Georgia's offensive line has been through the wringer this season. Their overall play has not been the best, but a lot of that has to do with the countless injuries they have been dealing with. But in the SEC there is no time for excuses, and in a rivalry game against Auburn they had to be ready to play well.
Unfortuantely they did not play well in the first half, but the second half was a completely different story. Georgia's offensive line was able to do whatever they wanted to Auburn in the final 32 minutes of this game. They were able to give Gunner Stockton a lot of time in the pocket while also carving out nice holes for the run game as well.
The only thing left for this group to do is show that they can play a full 60 minutes. They have been unable to do that up to this point, but the moment they do will be a scary thing for the rest of the country to witness.
4. Final drive was the perfect representation of Georgia football
If there was any one drive that perfectly encapsulates what Georgia football is, it was the Bulldogs final drive against Auburn.
Georgia got the ball back on their own 22-yard line with 10:34 left in the game. The Bulldogs led Auburn by just three points and were looking to put the finishing touches on yet another comeback victory, but what ensued was the perfect drive that Georgia fans have experienced so many times under Smart.
The Bulldogs went 78 yards in 16 plays and chewed up 8:45 of clock which was capped off by a 10-yard touchdown run by Stockton on a big third down play. This was one of four third downs Georgia converted on this drive along with one fourth down conversion as well.
The thing however that made this drive so stereotypical for Georgia is that there wasn't one amazing play that sparked the drive. It was a methodical yet dominant drive that Auburn never stood a chance at stopping, and it was this drive that capped off yet another historic win over the Tigers.
5. Can Georgia always be the 2nd half version of themselves?
Georgia football continues to suffer from their first half woes. The Bulldogs played horrible in the first half against Tennessee and Alabama, and that once again snuck up on them against Auburn.
The Tigers were absolutely dominant on both sides of the ball to start this game. Their offense was firing on all cylinders and their defense was keeping Georgia's offense off the field. In fact, Georgia only ran 11 offensvie plays in the first 28 minutes of this game.
But similarly to the Tennessee and Alabama games, Georgia woke up in the second half. The offense was able to put up 17 points which is a great amount in one half agianst any SEC defense. Georgia's defense however stole the show by holding Auburn scoreless in the second half, which is something they did against Alabama as well.
It is nice to know that Georgia is one of the best second half teams in the country, but at the same time it is frustrating that they can't play with that energy for an entire game. However, it may just take one game for Georgia to play a full 60 minutes before things start to click for the rest of the season.