ATHENS, Ga. - Auburn entered Saturday's 13-7 loss at Georgia leading the Southeastern Conference with 494.1 yards per game.
The Tigers were held to 164 by the tenacious Bulldogs, but Auburn didn't enter at full strength and quickly became more depleted. Quarterback Sean White went the distance despite not having thrown in practice in either of the last two weeks, according to Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, and he struggled to a 6-of-20 outing that produced just 27 yards.
White entered as the league's most efficient quarterback.
Starting tailback Kamryn Pettway, who began the day as the SEC's leading rusher with 1,106 yards, didn't dress out after pulling a leg muscle in last week's win over Vanderbilt. That left the carries to Kerryon Johnson, who rushed 22 times for 99 yards Saturday, and an ankle injury sidelined backup Stanton Truitt after two carries.
"That changed our plan, but we've been a pretty good offense this year," Malzahn said. "It's kind of a 'next up' mentality. I think Johnson ran hard and did some good stuff, but we just never got in a rhythm.
"We never got in our pace, and we were fighting uphill offensively."
Georgia coach Kirby Smart was quick to acknowledge Auburn's predicament when asked about his dominating defense, saying, "Well, we held a team that didn't have their starting back. Let's preface it with that, but I love the way our kids played."
Auburn had three third-and-2 situations in the third quarter and elected to throw all three times, with each occasion resulting in an incompletion.
"I was very surprised by that," Georgia defensive back Maurice Smith said. "I kept thinking they were going to run, but they kept throwing."
Chubb on the charts
Georgia junior tailback Nick Chubb rushed 23 times for 101 yards Saturday and became the fifth running back in school history to amass 3,000 yards in his career.
Chubb is fourth all-time among Bulldogs rushers with 3,086 yards, with Herschel Walker (5,259), Todd Gurley (3,285) and Garrison Hearst (3,232) occupying the top three spots.
"Nobody thought we could come out and win this game," Chubb said. "It was a hard-fought game and a hard battle that we ended up winning. You have these games sometimes, and our defense was just incredible, but we knew it would also come down to our offense making some plays."
Ramsey takes over
Freshman punter Marshall Long suffered a dislocated kneecap Wednesday, becoming the first season-ending setback for the Bulldogs.
Redshirt junior and third-string quarterback Brice Ramsey punted six times Saturday for a 33.7-yard average, placing three inside the 20-yard line and two inside the 10. His best punt was downed at the Auburn 2 with 3:57 left in the half.
"It's like second nature to me," Ramsey said. "I've been punting a long time. I handled all the kicking duties in high school and punted a lot last year. Any way I can contribute, I'll do it."
Ramsey did have one bad attempt, shanking a punt 23 yards midway through the third quarter.
"I got my drop too far outside, and it just came off my foot the wrong way," he said.
Odds and ends
Junior offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn, who played left guard and left tackle Saturday, injured his left knee in the second quarter, but Smart did not immediately know the severity. Freshman Mecole Hardman returned kickoffs for Georgia in place of injured Reggie Davis but never got an opportunity, as Auburn's Daniel Carlson booted his two kickoffs for touchbacks. Junior receiver Shakenneth Williams started for the first time in his career and got his first snaps of the season. Junior inside linebacker Reggie Carter notched his first career sack early in the third quarter of his 30th game played. Georgia extended its lead in the Deep South's oldest rivalry to 57-55-8.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.