It had been 21 years — 7,644 days — since the Auburn Tigers last defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia.
That number is now zero, as Alex Golesh and the Tigers stunned No. 1 Georgia 27-24 in the 131st edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry on Saturday night between the hedges.
“I’m happy for our guys, I’m happy for our staff,” head coach Alex Golesh said. “It’s awesome for them to get that feeling. The thing I’m most proud of is that nobody flinched. That’s the sign of a team that believes in each other.”
Following a fumble from Georgia’s Gunner Stockton on the expected would-be game-winning drive with 58 seconds left, Auburn recovered on its own 44-yard line before driving 40 yards to set up a 39-yard field goal attempt for Alex McPherson with two seconds on the clock.
McPherson, who’s battled various health issues and just returned to full strength this season, drilled the kick through the uprights to defeat the nation’s No. 1 team and send the vast Auburn contingent inside Sanford Stadium into a frenzy that it hadn’t experienced in decades.
The Tigers circled around McPherson and hoisted the senior in the air at midfield, right on top of the “G” logo at midfield, after he propelled Auburn to its first win over a top-ranked Georgia team since 1942.
“It was just a great win for the program,” McPherson said. “I was like, ‘Did that just happen?’ It’s one of the moments you dream of as a little kid and that was my first-ever game-winning field goal attempt, so it’s awesome to knock it down and do that for our team.”
The Bulldogs came out of the gates firing offensively, scoring twice within the opening nine minutes. However, the Tigers then responded with 24 unanswered points, marking their first time leading at halftime in Athens, Georgia, since 2016 and stretching the margin to a 10-point advantage on their first possession after the break.
Coming back from a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter, Georgia tied the game at 24-24 with 2:58 remaining in regulation, driving 94 yards on 13 plays and capping it with a 4-yard pass from Stockton to London Humphries.
Auburn’s ensuing drive was a nightmare, as Jeremiah Koger was flagged for an illegal shift in a deafening environment and Byrum Brown was sacked several times to force the Tigers to punt.
As the Bulldogs regained possession, Andre Jordan Jr. was called for pass interference before Sylvester Smith-Reed jumped on Stockton’s fumble, which was the Georgia signal-caller’s third turnover of the night and, ultimately, created the opportunity for McPherson’s historic moment.
“I saw that he tucked the ball and I reacted to it quickly,” Smith-Reed said. “Sigler got the ball out, the ball’s on the ground, all I had to do was fly to it and jump on top of it. It was either us or them. I wanted it more.”
Stockton’s other two turnovers came courtesy of Elijah Melendez and AnQuon Fegans, marking the first time he’s thrown two interceptions in a single game.
The absence of All-SEC linebacker Xavier Atkins was no problem for the Auburn defense, as Melendez led the Tigers with nine tackles and fellow linebacker Bryce Deas posted eight. Melendez also recorded one sack and played a massive role in halting Georgia’s elite rushing attack.
After struggling heavily on the ground through the first five games this season, the Tigers allowed just 113 rushing yards on Saturday night, as Auburn held Dwight Phillips Jr. to 68 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries and Nate Frazier to 19 yards on nine touches.
On the flip side, Brown headlined Auburn’s ground game, recording 115 rushing yards and one touchdown on 26 carries. The South Florida transfer also tallied 150 yards on 15-of-26 passing, with his one score through the air coming on a miraculous reception by Chas Nimrod in the end zone in the first half to make it 14-14.
Nimrod led Auburn in receiving with six receptions and 60 yards, while Keshaun Singleton, who caught Auburn’s first touchdown of the game, notched 45 yards on three receptions.
Auburn netted 366 yards of total offense in comparison to Georgia’s 440, but the Tigers made plays when it mattered most — and that’s not something Auburn fans could’ve said about their team for the last six years.
Golesh’s offense went 2-for-2 on fourth down and held the Bulldogs to 6-for-12 on third down. Additionally, Brown and company protected the football and finished the game with no turnovers — a feat the Tigers hadn’t accomplished yet this year.
The win on Saturday over the Bulldogs marked Auburn’s first win over Georgia since 2017 at Jordan-Hare Stadium and its first time beating a No. 1 team on the road since 1994.
“It’s a lesson for our guys. For our fanbase, I just want to get this program back to where you expect to come in and beat them,” Golesh said.
Now, Auburn turns its attention to the Lane Kiffin-led LSU Tigers, who visit to the Plains next weekend in what should be one of the most electric environments Jordan-Hare Stadium has seen in quite some time.