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Video/Transcript: Kirby Smart’s Auburn Postgame Presser

On the offense, getting the run game going, and the offensive line…

“I thought Drew [Bobo] did great. I’ll tell you what, he went in there, and he’s worked his tail off. People don’t realize how many snaps that kid’s snapped to get his chance for the first start. I never really even worried because when Jared [Wilson] was out I was like, ‘Drew’s going to go in there and do a great job,’ and he did. He plays really hard, He plays really physical, and I thought the run game was good for us. I thought we were really close to hitting those explosives, and I feel like we left more out there. We have good backs. We have a quarterback that gets us into the right run, and we’d hit some of those for 20 and 30, and we’re not – and that’s frustrating. A couple of those times I thought we could cash them in, but we did make a lot of plays in the run game.”

On defending the line of scrimmage…

“I think their back [Jarquez Hunter] is the best back that we have played, maybe the best back we will play. I don’t know that, but he is elite. He has embarrassed us for three-straight years. He runs through armed tackles, and I’d advise anybody in the NFL that wants a really good back to get that kid. He’s a special player. But we did rise up. We bent and didn’t break. We had several times that the same thing happened to us during the year, and we have opportunistic stops. We had some fourth down stops that were huge. The fourth down, they tried to run the play that [Jalen] Milroe and Alabama ran and Jalon Walker made the play, and we had big fourth down stops in the second half.”

On Dan Jackson’s performance and what he means to the team…

“Dan’s very consistent. He understands leverages, he knows what offenses are trying to do to you. He’s getting better and better. Dan’s a good football player, and we always thought that and I’m just proud of him. But the blocked kick was something we worked really hard on this week. We worked really hard on protection, and that’s why I sent the field goal team out there at the end because I trust those guys to do it right.”

Postgame Notes: Georgia vs. Auburn 2024

*Just Win Baby! With today’s 31-13 victory over Auburn, the No. 5 Bulldogs extended their home winning streak to 27 games dating to 2019, which leads all of FBS.

*Georgia now leads the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry 65-56-8 including 3-1 on Homecoming. Under Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs are 9-1 against the Tigers. *The Bulldogs improved to 82-18-2 on Homecoming including 8-1 in the Smart era.

*Georgia has now won 43 of its past 44 games including 29 of its past 30 SEC regular season games. The Bulldogs are 50-3 in their last 53 games.

*With the latest victory, Georgia’s 2024 senior class improves to 46-3 overall and 40-1 in the regular season.

*Summary Of The Offense: Georgia tallied 381 yards of total offense on 66 plays in a 31-13 win. Georgia built a 14-3 advantage in the first half.

*Senior QB Carson Beck was 14-for-16 for 124 yards and one TD in the first half and finished 23-for-29 for 240 yards and 2 TDs. 

*Georgia’s opening TD drive covered 75 yards on 11 plays in 4:58 for a 7-0 edge. Beck was 6-for-7 for 60 yards on the first TD drive including a 33-yarder to sophomore Lawson Luckie to convert a 3rd-and-2 at the UGA43.

*Georgia’s second TD drive was five plays, going 49 yards in just 45 seconds, ending with an 11-yard catch by Dominic Lovett. Lovett, who now has two TDs on the year, finished with four receptions for 38 yards. 

*The Bulldogs had 141 rushing yards. Junior Trevor Etienne had a team-high 88 yards on 16 attempts. He had a career-high six catches for 36 yards. 

*Up 14-10 in the 3rd quarter, Georgia put together a 12 play, 75-yard TD drive in 5:55 as Etienne scored from one-yard out for a 21-10 edge. On the drive,  the Bulldogs converted a 4th-and-1 on a Beck sneak plus featured a 27-yard completion to Colbie Young on 3rd-and-6 from the 50. 

*The Bulldogs made it 28-10 following a fourth down stop of the Tigers. It led to a 40-yard TD drive on five plays in 2:40 capped by a three-yard TD pass to Dillon Bell, his third of the year. Bell had four catches for 18 yards and a score plus one rush for 18 yards.

*Defensive Review:  The Tigers finished with a season-low 13 points, gaining 337 yards of total offense on 58 plays. In the first half, the Tigers had three points on 147 yards of total offense on 27 plays. Coming in today, the Bulldogs ranked 18th nationally in Scoring Defense at 14.8 ppg. Auburn came in averaging 33.4.

*Auburn cut it to 14-10 on a 38-yard TD scamper by Jarquez Hunter with 9:45 left in the 3rd quarter. It capped a six play, 68-yard drive. It was the longest rush allowed by the Bulldogs this year.

*Down 21-10 to start the 4th quarter, Auburn was stopped on 4th-and-1 at their own 44 as QB Peyton Thorne lost four yards on a keeper by Raylen Wilson. 

*In the first half this year, Georgia now has allowed 39 points. Georgia has allowed just 23 points in the second half this season.

*Auburn got the football to start the game after Georgia deferred the football until the 2nd half. Tyrion Ingam-Dawkins registered a sack on the first play from scrimmage for a loss of five yards. AU’s first drive covered 14 yards on six plays before punting. Ingram-Dawkins notched his second sack on AU’s second drive, resulting in a loss of seven yards. AU managed a 27-yard FG on its second possession to cut it to 7-3 with 56 seconds left in the 1st quarter.

*Georgia’s leading tacklers were senior Dan Jackson with seven while junior Malaki Starks had six. Jackson blocked a field goal too. Last week at No. 4 Alabama, Jackson posted a career-high 10 tackles. 

*Special Teams In Action: Junior Brett Thorson had three punts for a 42.3 average with no returns. The first two punts were placed inside the 20 including one downed at the AU3. After a defensive stop, Georgia took over at the AU49 and led to a five play, TD-drive in 45 seconds and a 14-3 edge. 

*Sophomore PK Peyton Woodring tallied seven points on four PATs and a 47-yard field goal plus handled kickoffs too. His is 7-for-7 on FGs this year. 

*Sophomore Anthony Evans had two kickoff returns for 25 yards and one punt return for five yards. Coming in today, Auburn along with Georgia and Ohio State were the only three teams in FBS to hold opponents to negative punt return yards on the year.

*Senior Dan Jackson blocked a 54-yard field goal attempt to end the first half. In 2021, Jackson blocked a punt against No. 8 Arkansas. Ja

Photo Gallery: Georgia vs. Auburn 2024

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