AUBURN, Ala. — No. 10 Georgia forced a goal-line fumble to change the trajectory of the 130th edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, which ended just like the previous eight: with the Bulldogs on top.
Junior linebacker CJ Allen knocked the ball out of Auburn quarterback Jackson Arnold’s hands late in the second quarter, and Georgia rallied to beat the Tigers 20-10 on Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium. The Bulldogs, who have won nine consecutive series meetings and 12 of the past 13, pushed their advantage in the annual pairing of Southeastern Conference rivals to 66-56-8.
Allen had a sack among his 10 tackles and broke up a pass, but his most significant play came with Auburn (3-3, 0-3) on the verge of pulling ahead 17-0.
Arnold fumbled on third-and-goal amid a pileup while trying to get into the end zone with 1:32 to play in the half. Although replays appeared to show the ball breaking the plane at the goal line, officials had no conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field. So the play stood, with Allen getting credit for a forced fumble and Kyron Jones getting credit for a fumble recovery.
Georgia’s Kirby Smart, who is in his 10th season as head coach at his alma mater, improved to 10-1 in the role against the Tigers — including the Bulldogs beating them 28-7 in Atlanta to win the 2017 SEC title game less than a month after losing 40-17 at Auburn.