The last two head coaches at Auburn made promises to return the program to glory but never came close. On Saturday, Alex Golesh completed a mere six-game journey to reignite the magic Auburn had lost. The Tigers knocked off No. 1 Georgia 27-24 between the hedges, perhaps the season's biggest upset, beating the Bulldogs at their own game with bone-rattling physicality.
Auburn scored 24 straight points to overcome an early 14-0 deficit, with quarterback Byrum Brown carrying the ball 26 times for 115 yards and the defense forcing three turnovers, including a Gunner Stockton fumble with 58 seconds remaining that set up Alex McPherson for a 34-yard field goal as time expired. Georgia was favored by nearly three touchdowns (-20.5). "It's detail -- six to eight seconds," Golesh told CBS Sports by phone while riding back on Auburn's victorious team bus.
That's really hard to believe until you actually can wrap your mind around it. It's the only way to go and play in an environment like that and be able to win that game." The relentless, weekly physical toll of playing in the SEC is undeniable. Coming off their monumental, exhausting clash in Tuscaloosa just a week earlier, both Alabama and Georgia fell on Saturday.
Undeniably, the resulting aches and fatigue contributed to both the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs dropping games on the very same day. "Like I say, humility is a week away," Georgia's Kirby Smart told reporters after the loss, the second largest upset of his career (barely behind a loss to South Carolina in 2019). "This was the seventh week in a row for those guys," Golesh said.
"We were fortunate to be able to come off a bye week. It's just part of it." But the story here isn't Georgia or the AP's No. 1 team falling in back-to-back weeks for the first time in 36 years. Saturday belonged to the resurrected calls of "War Eagle!" and the electric celebrations at Toomer's Corner, where fans gather on the edge of campus to roll the oak trees with toilet paper to mark victories.
Long considered the SEC's most magical program, Auburn's ability to beat top-5 programs and win conference and national championships remains extraordinary -- especially as it is geographically sandwiched between Alabama during Nick Saban's unprecedented modern dynasty and Georgia as Smart hit his championship stride. Truth be told, the five straight losing seasons since 2021 on the Plains should be less surprising than their magical, memorable and historic runs in 2010 (national title), 2013 (SEC championship), and 2017 (wins over No. 1 Alabama and No. 1 Georgia). Doing it against two rivals in their golden eras should be darn near impossible.
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