Georgia 20, Auburn 13: Winning On The Plains Never Gets Old.

The offense is terrible. Our best quarterback is either Terry Godwin or Sony Michel. We actually had one of our best offensive plays running the ball on 3rd and 41.

Screw it. Georgia beat Auburn and I refuse to be deprived of the right to celebrate that. The 'Dawgs also retook the all-time series lead for the first time in nearly three decades at 56-55-8. Mark Richt personally moves to 10-5 against the Bulldogs' oldest and, for many, most bitter rival.

It was ugly. Oh, Shug Jordan's pit stains was it ugly. Greyson Lambert finished the game 12 of 17 passing for 97 yards.Not to be outdone Auburn's Jeremy Johnson was 14 of 22 for 61. In a game where both offensive coordinators made it pretty clear they just didn't want their respective signal callers to screw up and lose it, Greyson Lambert was the less screw-upish of the two. A Johnson fumble late in the game allowed Marshall Morgan to come on and nail a field goal to make it 20-10. The Johnson utilized some questionable clock management late to burn up time Auburn didn't have on their final drive. Telling time is a senior level course at Auburn, however, so you can't fault him too much for that.

Sony Michel contributed a workmanlike 77 yards on 26 carries, including some out of the Wild Dawg formation. Georgia's two longest plays from scrimmage were a 20 yard screen to fullback Christian Payne (who tied with Malcolm Mitchell for the team lead in receiving yards with that one catch) and an equal length run by Brendan Douglas on the aforementioned 3rd and 41. As they say in golf, there are no pictures on the scorecard, though.

Isaiah McKenzie will go down as the likely hero of this one with a touchdown to tie it and another on a punt return to put the 'Dawgs ahead for good. It was a sound reminder that the game is made up of three phases. On this day Georgia won two of them and that was enough. The Red and Black finished the game with 243 yards of total offense, just slightly less than Auburn's 275. Auburn accumulated only 90 of those yards in the second half however. That's when Jeremy Pruitt's defense really clamped down. But for a Leonard Floyd personal foul, that total would have been lower. The defense also created three Auburn turnovers, which was a large part of the outcome. The offense didn't turn the ball over at all, a fact which also played no small part in the final outcome.

Georgia now returns for next weekend's 7:00 p.m. kickoff against Georgia Southern with a 7-3 record and their chances to get to 10 wins on the year intact. That's both a hopeful prospect for many fans and a source of incredible annoyance for those who want to see Mark Richt on the road out of Athens. As for me, I'll let the rest of you debate what it all means for the future. Because right now Georgia just beat Auburn, and that's good enough for me. Until later . . .

Go 'Dawgs!!!