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Georgia's defense rises to occasion in second half at Auburn

Jeremy Johnsonby: Jeremy Johnson10/12/25JeremyO_Johnson
Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann
Kirby Smart and Glenn Schumann look on during Georgia's loss to Alabama. (Kathryn Skeean/UGASports)

Georgia’s defense was hit with a lot in the first half of Saturday’s 20-10 win over Auburn. The Tigers methodically ate up yards in their first two drives of Saturday’s game. Georgia found themselves in a 10-0 hole by the end of the first half.

Auburn was going in for a 17-0 lead when a Jackson Arnold fumble turned into a costly turnover. For Georgia, it was a momentum-shifting moment.

“Man, it’s really just, like, breath-taking,” linebacker Raylen Wilson told reporters after the game. “It’s like anybody could’ve made a play, or they could’ve scored. Like, it’s just 50-50. It’s like you’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do out there.”

Georgia allowed 228 yards of offense in the first half. The Bulldogs only allowed 50 yards to Auburn’s offense in the second half. Georgia gave Auburn credit for adding new wrinkles to their game plan.

 “I feel like just our execution on basic plays — they weren’t basic plays, but it was like, new plays that we haven’t seen with wrinkles to it,” Wilson told reporters after the game. “So it was just like getting the adjustments right and still executing our play call.”

Phyiscality was the adjustment for Georgia’s defense

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart felt Georgia found a way to play off blocks better in the second half. He also felt Auburn added a new layer of wrinkles to its offense after a bye week.

“I guess it’s the second time we’ve done it,” Smart told reporters after the game. “I mean, really, the third if you count Kentucky and the guys that were in the game, right? So, I don’t want to say there are no adjustments. (Glenn) Schumann and his staff do a great job. They made some different calls. But in awareness of what they were running after an off week, they hit us on some things that, honestly, we didn’t rep. We had to rep them and we had to get it fixed. We got it fixed. But we played blocks and tackled people better. And that’s football.”

Georgia will host Ole Miss next weekend.



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