I guess it’s time to revisit the old coaching axiom that things are never as bad or as good as they seem. Georgia had the SEC’s largest margin of victory in week one, but they spent the week hearing about a disappointing first half and a crisis at quarterback. Now with a dominant win over a top 10 rival, do we need to pump the brakes on Georgia’s inevitable return to the playoffs? Maybe, but we’ll let the coaches worry about that. For fans another win over Auburn – no matter the month, no matter how many fans could be there, and no matter who played quarterback – is worth savoring.

Georgia has now won 13 of the last 16 meetings against Auburn. That’s comparable to the series records against Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt. A summary of the series since Tra Battle helped to turn the series with an upset win at Auburn in 2006:

• Georgia has won 13 out of 16 and four in a row
• Georgia is 7-0 in Athens (undefeated since 2007)
• No Auburn touchdowns in Athens after the first quarter since 2009 (six games)

I admit that last one gets me. Wins are one thing, but it’s stunning that the last time Auburn scored a touchdown in Athens after the first quarter was the Blackout game in 2007.

Offense

Even after his steadying performance at Arkansas, most of us expected it to be a matter of time before Stetson Bennett gave way to JT Daniels. Even the ESPN game promo used Daniels’s photo alongside Auburn’s Bo Nix. After a confident and effective showing against a good Auburn defense, the perception of Stetson Bennett as placeholder is fading away. That’s good news on several fronts. Daniels doesn’t have to be rushed back – “cleared” and “ready” are two very different states. We’ve seen that the offense doesn’t have to be scaled back for Bennett, and a bit of an identity is emerging. It’s doubtful that Todd Monken spent nine months drawing up plays for Stetson Bennett. Likely for the first time in his career Bennett got first-team reps all week in practice and was involved in the game plan. He was prepared, poised, and the moment wasn’t too big for him. Where does he go now that he’s QB1?

It’s tough to pick Bennett’s best throw of the night. The early third down conversion under pressure was probably the most important. Markaviest ‘Big Kat’ Bryant is one of the better defensive ends in the SEC, and Bennett was able to elude and make a good throw with Bryant coming unblocked off the edge. An incompletion there meant a 49-yard FG attempt, and a sack would have killed the drive. As nice as that play was, the touch and placement on the touchdown pass to Pickens though was just *chef’s kiss*.

This wasn’t exactly Kearis Jackson’s coming out party: he led Georgia in receiving last week, too. But even as Pickens remains the dangerous playmaker, Jackson is looking like the guy in the best position to benefit from extra attention on Pickens. Jackson is fast enough to get open deep, tough enough to go across the middle, and, as ESPN pointed out several times, has the football acumen to get open. The passing game wasn’t as diversified against Auburn as it was at Arkansas. Twelve players caught passes last week, but only seven notched a reception on Saturday. Georgia had far fewer pass attempts against Auburn due to better success on the ground but also because of fewer possessions.

That success on the ground was something we’ve been waiting to see. Georgia was ineffective on first and second down at Arkansas, and their low third down conversion rate was a result. Against Auburn Georgia got over 7 yards per play on first down, and a lot of that came from running the ball. Zamir White was pushing 80 yards by halftime. James Cook was getting over 8 yards per carry before he was injured. Milton, McIntosh, and Edwards combined for nearly 90 yards to push Georgia over 200 rushing yards. Much was made about the talent Auburn lost on the defensive front, and that’s true. But this is also an overhauled Georgia offensive line with four new starters. That line found its stride after a shaky start at Arkansas, and both run blocking and pass protection were solid on Saturday.

Of course the offense can still improve. Perimeter blocking has to get better – we’ve seen obvious holding calls on the outside erase nice gains in both games due to lazy blocking. Explosive runs haven’t come yet, though the holes are starting to open and White has shown some good moves. Again downfield blocking is in the spotlight – it can mean the difference between a nice, successful run and a trip to the endzone. Bennett can improve his accuracy – too many of the completions to Jackson ended with a diving catch and left yards-after-catch on the table.

Defense

When we saw Chad Morris’s offense at Clemson in 2013, he had Tajh Boyd running it. That up-tempo offense with a mobile QB wasn’t new, but it was still a handful. Morris’s offense would make him attractive to SMU and later Arkansas. Already after one game his offense had drawn praise for a more sophisticated use of Auburn’s stable of speedy receivers, and even Kirby Smart noted that this wasn’t your typical Malzahn offense. What the 2020 Georgia defense was able to do against Morris that the 2013 unit couldn’t was to make it one-dimensional. Clemson rushed for 197 yards on Georgia in 2013, and Boyd scored twice on the ground. Georgia held Auburn to 39 rushing yards on Saturday. The Auburn running game was limited to true freshman Tank Bigsby, and Georgia made sure that the newcomer wasn’t going to have his breakout game.

I don’t know that any series better demonstrates what this defense has become than the first-and-goal Auburn faced just before halftime. The targeting call on LeCounte could have shellshocked the defense, but they regrouped and forced a field goal. First was preparation: Georgia recognized the tendency to run the quarterback. It was snuffed out on first down. On second down, Auburn shifted the formation and used motion to create better numbers for Nix. Nakobe Dean recognized the situation and quickly tried to realign the defense. It was still a good play for Auburn, but Jordan Davis made an athletic tackle from behind to keep a modest gain from becoming a touchdown. On third down, Tyson Campbell smoothly followed Auburn’s Anthony Schwartz in motion and was right there to stick Schwartz for no gain on a little flare pass that would have scored if Campbell had been a little slower getting into position or missed the tackle. You have intelligent and physical plays at all three levels of the defense working to keep Auburn out of the endzone and limit any momentum they’d have going into halftime.

But even the defense has things to work on. Bo Nix can be evasive and tough to bring down, but several of Auburn’s more successful plays came when Nix was able to elude the initial pressure. It’s thrilling to see someone like Adam Anderson come free on a passing down, but the pass rush has to get home. Ending drives also became an issue in the Auburn game. Auburn’s final four drives lasted 11, 15, 15, and 8 plays. It’s to the defense’s credit that those four drives netted a total of six points, but there were several missed opportunities to make third down stops. If people wonder why an effective Georgia offense only scored three points in the second half, it’s because they rarely had the ball. Auburn’s long drives meant that Georgia only had three posessions in the second half – including the final possession on which they ran out the clock. Georgia’s other two second half possessions yielded two field goal attempts.

No-name No Longer

Despite returning eight starters from the nation’s top defense, the Bulldog defense didn’t get many nods during preseason selections. That relative anonymity might be changing as a couple of players are beginning to break out. Auburn’s biggest offensive threat is a deep and fast receiver corps. Georgia’s defensive backs generally did well, especially against deeper passes, but Tyson Campbell shone while drawing one of the tougher assignments. Seth Williams is a 6’2″ receiver with great leaping and ballcatching skills who torched Kentucky for 6 catches, 112 yards, and 2 TD in the opener. Last year against Georgia Williams posted 13 receptions for 121 yards. Campbell is one of the few defensive backs with both the size and speed to match up against someone like Williams. Williams still had three catches for a modest 34 yards on Saturday, but Campbell was a big reason why Williams wasn’t able to do more damage especially as Auburn began to take more shots downfield in the second half. Williams was visibly frustrated and eventually left the game with what looked to be a leg injury.

Azeez Ojulari and Adam Anderson also stood out. Anderson has become a third down pass rush specialist, and coaches have had fun moving him all over the formation to disguise pressure. He’s also able to drop into coverage. We saw Anderson come free on several obvious passing situations and flush Bo Nix from the pocket. I’m sure coaches would like to see him turn those plays into sacks, but sometimes it’s enough to make the quarterback uncomfortable and get him on the move. Most quarterbacks aren’t as effective on the move as Nix. Ojulari did record a sack, but he was most impressive setting the edge and preventing a speedy Auburn team from having much success in their option plays. It’s telling that Georgia’s top five tacklers were all interior linemen or inside linebackers – most running plays and reads were funneled back inside. Ojulari’s awareness stood out on the last play of the first half when Auburn tried to run out of the victory formation. He sniffed out the trick play and made the tackle for loss – one of three TFL he had in the game.

• Loved the goalline package with defensive linemen Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter. Will love it even more when one of them releases on a play-action pass.
• Davis and Carter weren’t just in there to take up space. They made purposeful blocks with good technique.
• What was more impressive – those defensive linemen on the goalline offense or Travon Walker staying with a tailback down the sideline in coverage?
• I was surprised that Auburn didn’t attack Georgia’s safeties more, especially once LeCounte was ejected. Lewis Cine is a good, physical player, but he’s still relatively new to the position. LeCounte was replaced by Christopher Smith, a junior who has seen mostly reserve and special teams duty. It’s no knock against Cine or Smith to say that the strength of Georgia’s secondary in pass coverage was at the cornerback position. Most of Auburn’s deep shots went outside against that strength, and Tyson Campbell is one of the few players in the SEC who can match the speed of Auburn’s receivers.
• Auburn wasn’t without its chances in the passing game. Daniel isn’t as quick as Campbell or Stokes, and receivers were able to get behind him. It’s great to see Campbell emerge, but Georgia does need some reliable depth at cornerback. Has anyone checked on Kelee Ringo’s status?
• James Cook took almost as much heat as D’Wan Mathis after the opener. He responded with one of his better games as a Bulldog, and we began to see some of the potential realized. It was a shame he was knocked out of the game just as he was getting going, and it’s good news that the injury doesn’t seem to be serious.
• Stuck between the 5-star starting tailbacks and the 5-star freshman, Kenny McIntosh has carved out a nice role for himself. His kick returns have provided some valuable field position. He’s been active in the passing game and a tough runner between the tackles. It’s a very Herrien-like role with perhaps a bit more talent.