’Dogs continue to dominate rival
ATHENS, Ga. — Stetson Bennett threw for 240 yards and a touchdown in his first college start, Zamir White ran for a pair of scores and No. 4 Georgia romped to a 27-6 victory over No. 7 Auburn on Saturday night in the first Top 10 matchup of the college football season.
The Bulldogs (2-0) buried Auburn with a 24-0 blitz in the first half, extending their domination of the Deep South’s oldest rivalry.
The teams had traditionally played in November, but a revamped Southeastern Conference schedule in this pandemic-affected season moved the game up to Week 2. It was their earliest meeting since the very first game in the series was played in February 1892.
No matter the time of year, Georgia kept the upper hand with a fourth consecutive victory over Auburn (1-1). The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 16 meetings.
Bennett, a fourth-year junior known as “The Mailman,” delivered before a socially distanced crowd of 20,524 at Sanford Stadium. He didn’t make any major mistakes while completing an efficient 17 of 28 passes, including a 21-yard touchdown to George Pickens.
Kearis Jackson was Bennett’s favorite receiver, hauling in nine catches for 147 yards.
Bennett took advantage of a short field to guide a 43-yard touchdown drive on Georgia’s second possession. Bennett converted a third-and-10 with a 17-yard pass to Jackson, and White powered in from the 1 to put the Bulldogs ahead 7-0. Jordan Davis, a 320-pound nose tackle, lined up at fullback to provide a key block.
After Jack Podlesny’s 21-yard field goal extended the lead, Georgia put together touchdown drives of 84 and 72 yards on its next two possessions.
Pickens made his touchdown grab sliding toward the left corner of the end zone. Bennett hooked up with Jackson on a 49-yard completion that set White for another oneyard touchdown run — with the massive Davis again clearing a path.
Auburn finally got on the board with a field goal late in the first half, but the Tigers’ offense simply never got going behind Bo Nix, who completed just 21 of 40 passes for 177 yards. A streak of 251 passes without an interception was snapped with a third-quarter pick by Mark Webb.
The Auburn running game was no help at all, held to 39 yards and a 1.8-yard average per carry.