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.