No. 1 Georgia survives

Late 40-yard TD pass lifts Bulldogs past Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. — Pushed to the brink on the road, No. 1 Georgia turned matters over to Carson Beck and Brock Bowers.

Beck-to-bowers proved unstoppable in the end, even if the Bulldogs had appeared anything but up to that point.

With Georgia’s No. 1 ranking and lengthy winning streak on the line, Bowers caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the final minutes of a 27-20 win over Auburn on Saturday. The Bulldogs (5-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) remained perfectly imperfect in their SEC start.

Two games, two scares, two wins.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart called his Bulldogs “a very resilient team” after escaping successfully from their first road game. That’s kind of a Catch-22 for the two-time defending national champions.

“We’re not going to get where we want to go if we don’t get better,” Smart said. “That’s the biggest thing.”

Bowers caught a dart from Beck coming over the middle, shook off a couple of defenders and ran away from a third on his way to the end zone against the Tigers (3-2, 0-2) with 2:52 left. The All-america tight end had four catches for 121 yards in the fourth quarter and converted a third-and-long to keep the goahead drive alive.

He had two straight one-handed grabs, though one was called back by a penalty.

Georgia’s school-record winning streak ultimately stretched to 22 games, even if the Bulldogs only dominated when they absolutely had to.

Auburn, which led 10-0 after the first quarter, had tied it on Alex Mcpherson’s 42-yard field goal with 10:57 left. It left the Tigers and new coach Hugh Freeze with hopes of their fourth straight win over a No. 1 team in Jordan-hare Stadium.

The Bulldogs, who also trailed South Carolina 14-3 at halftime

in their SEC opener, didn’t let it happen.

Auburn’s final drive was halted with a fourth-down interception by Malaki Starks just across midfield.

“I’m really proud of our kids, but it hurts in there right now,” Freeze said. “And that’s good to see. It hurts. It hurts those kids and our coaches, and our fans I’m sure, too. You have a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country — back-toback national champions — at home. The feeling that you get if you can pull that off is just ecstatic.”

Stew Milne The Associated Press Georgia tight end Brock Bowers scores on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 2:52 remaining to defeat cornerback Jaylin Simpson and Auburn on Saturday.