ATHENS - It worked. The week-long call to arms by University of Georgia players to the Bulldog Nation for a "black out" against Auburn paid off in the form of a 45-20 Georgia win on Saturday.
With thousands of black-clad Bulldogs fans packing Sanford Stadium, the Dawgs even dressed for the occasion themselves. After warming up in their standard red home jerseys, the Bulldog captains came out for the coin toss, also clad in red tops. Suddenly, the rest of the Georgia team burst forth from beneath the stadium wearing the black uniforms, to the unmitigated delight of Georgia partisans.
"Nobody had seen the jerseys until right before the game," said kicker Brandon Coutu, one of the UGA captains. "We said our prayer and turned out the lights. When the lights came back on, the jerseys were there. It got kind of crazy after that."
Coutu also reached a career milestone against the Tigers, with his 100th career extra point.
Georgia was looking for a way to overcome the so-called "home field disadvantage" that had seen Auburn win 18 of the last 27 games between the teams in Athens, and master motivator Mark Richt once again found the consummate motivational play.
The results were evident from the get-go, with Kelin Johnson picking off a Brandon Cox pass on the first play from scrimmage. It was Johnson's first snap since coming back from an injury, and the first of his two interceptions on the day.
"Coach always says to set the tempo on the first play of the game," said Johnson.
Ten plays later, Coutu capped a 26-yard scoring drive with a 32-yard field goal, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead at 11:28 of the first quarter.
Auburn drove 68 yards on its ensuing drive, but the Tigers settled for a 22-yard field goal by Wes Byrum that tied the game at 4:46 of the opening period.
Matthew Stafford's 58-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Mohamed Massaquoi gave Georgia its first touchdown of the game, and Coutu's PAT made it 10-3 with 3:09 left in the first quarter.
The Dawgs extended the lead to 14 points at 10:54 of the second quarter, when Stafford hit Sean Bailey on a 13-yard fade route in the corner of the end zone. Coutu's PAT made it 17-3.
Auburn pulled back to within a touchdown with 6:13 before the half on Ben Tate's seven-yard run. That play capped an eight-play, 65-yard drive. Byrum's PAT made it 17-10, and that count stood until halftime.
Jerraud Powers picked off Stafford's first pass of the third quarter, giving Auburn the ball at the Bulldog 27-yard line. That drive was aided by a roughing penalty against Georgia. Cox linked up with Mario Fannin a play later for a 12-yard scoring pass. Byrum's PAT knotted the score at 17 with 12:19 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers finally surged ahead at 6:47 of the third on Byrum's 33-yard field goal, making it 20-17. That play capped an 11-play, 45-yard drive.
Georgia answered promptly, with Knowshon Moreno scoring on a brilliant, 24-yard cutback run that allowed Georgia to re-take the lead, 24-20. The key play in that drive was a 45-yard pass from Stafford to Bailey that moved the ball to the Auburn 27.
Johnson's second interception of the game for the Bulldogs snuffed out an Auburn drive with 3:17 of the third quarter, giving the Bulldogs the ball at the Tiger's 48. Once again, the Stafford-Bailey connection game through, with a 34-yard pass to the Auburn 14. Moreno passed to Massaquoi on the next play, but a procedure call erased the would-be touchdown. Moreno, however, did the honors himself moments later, from three yards out. Coutu's kick made it 31-20 as the third quarter expired.
Not to be upstaged in the way of comebacks, Thomas Brown, who missed the last three games with a broken collarbone, raced 53 yard on Georgia's first play of the fourth quarter to set up first-and-goal, and Brannan Southerland bulled in from a yard out for the touchdown at the 12:11 mark. Coutu's kick made it 38-20.
Bryan Evans came up with Georgia's third interception of the game, giving the Bulldogs the ball at their own 41 with 11:55 left. Brown punched it in from a yard out nine plays later, on a drive aided by two Stafford completions to Tripp Chandler, of 18 and 26 yards respectively. That made it 45-20, and the Georgia went on to notch its eighth win of the season.
It was another solid performance by freshman sensation Moreno, who racked up 105 yards on 22 carries. It was Moreno's fourth straight game topping the century mark.
Stafford also had a stellar day, going 11-for-19 with 237 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Afterwards, though, the focus was all on Georgia's uniforms-du-jour.
Bailey, who finished the game with four catches for 96 yards, said the black jerseys were long overdue.
"The seniors have been asking to wear the black jerseys since we got here," said Bailey. "It was important for us to make Coach Richt look good and come out with a lot of energy."
Georgia (8-2; 5-2) is back in action next week, hosting Kentucky in the season home finale. The Bulldogs need a win over Kentucky, combined with a Tennessee loss in the Vols' two remaining conference games, in order to wrap up the fourth SEC East title of the Richt era.
Wednesday
May 14th, 2025
2:47PM
