Bennett, No. 2 Georgia romp over No. 18 Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. – Stetson Bennett passed for 231 yards and two touchdowns and led No. 2 Georgia past No. 18 Auburn for the second straight year in a 34-10 victory Saturday.
The nation’s top defense gave up only its second touchdown of the year for the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference), who were still without injured starting quarterback JT Daniels. None of that kept Georgia from another comfortable SEC win and a fifth straight in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.
Bennett, who made his first college start in a Top 10 matchup with Auburn (3-2, 1-1) last season, completed 14 of 21 passes and hit Ladd McConkey in stride for a 60-yard third quarter score. He also had a 30-yard run.
Daniels is out with a lat injury for the second straight week.
Zamir White ran for 79 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns, doing most of his damage in the second half.
Bo Nix and the Tigers came in averaging 40 points per game but couldn’t solve the Georgia defensive puzzle despite moving the ball at times. Nix completed 21 of 38 passes for 217 yards with an interception off a dropped ball a week after delivering a comeback win
at LSU.
Georgia also sacked him four times and harried him all afternoon, and the Tigers had some other drops to boot. The Bulldogs allowed just 46 yards on 29 rushes.
Auburn had failed fourth-down passes end its final drive of the first half and its opening one in the second.
THE TAKEAWAY
Georgia: The nation’s best defense mostly dominated, chasing Nix around the backfield and stuffing the run. Still looks like a team on its way to the SEC championship game.
Auburn: Showed it still has a long way to go to catch the SEC powers. The tone was set with an opening drive that stalled just
shy of the end zone – and another one that did the same just before the half. The bright spot: Both losses have been to Top 10 opponents.
SMOKED
Auburn safety Smoke Monday was called for targeting against Georgia for the second straight year. This one was for a head-on hit on a scrambling Bennett on the opening play of the second quarter near the goal line. He missed the second half of both games.
UP NEXT
Georgia hosts No. 16 Kentucky, which entered the weekend as the only other unbeaten SEC East team.
Auburn visits No. 13 Arkansas, an 52-51 loser at No. 17 Mississippi, in an SEC West showdown.