I have long enjoyed Jerry Hinnen’s writing, and this piece on the last Georgia-Auburn game is no exception. He makes a cool comparison with the way the key fourth down play in the 2005 game went with the way the key fourth down play this past Saturday went.
What’s most enjoyable is Jerry’s exploration of karma as it’s effected the series.
What he does is fumble. What the fumble does is stay in-bounds. What Taylor does is make the recovery. And what Auburn does immediately afterwards is run out the clock, kick a chip-shot field goal, and move to 15-7-1 against Georgia over a 23-year span.
As more than one than one gleeful Dawg has pointed out since Saturday, in the series’ 15-year-span since that play, Auburn’s gone 3-12. THREE AND BLEEPING TWELVE. A Georgia fan might argue that if not for the bounce of the ball in Athens in 2005 and Jordan-Hare in 2013, we’d be talking about a 2-14 stretch, but it’s hard for me not to feel like those two games are some form of repayment for all the do-or-die late-fourth-quarter drives Auburn hasn’t finished.
I’m not sure enough is ever going to happen for the 2013 ending to constitute repayment in full. At a minimum, Georgia’s gonna be owed for many games coming. But enough on that, what I find worth noting is the notion that reliance on luck is part of Auburn’s formula if it’s to turn the series around.
Contrasting Cox’s throw with Nix’s is to point out that if Auburn’s going to bring this series back to parity, it’s going to take both ends of that 2005 play. It’s going to take better luck than Georgia’s lone fumble tumbling out of bounds from several yards away while Auburn’s is recovered by the Dawgs; than the officials reversing a critical late-game catch they could have easily let stand; than the accumulation of events that left Auburn with zero points from 5 separate trips inside the Georgia 40.
No, he’s definitely not claiming that luck is the only way the Tigers are going to beat Georgia. But he’s not kicking the old adage about being lucky rather than good out of bed, either. I know, almost every great team is the beneficiary of a good break or two now and then. It’s just that it’s not something I count on for my team to win. Maybe that’s just the difference between being a Georgia fan and an Auburn one.
Get The Picture 
I’m shocked it was 15-7-1 on the preceding 23 at that time…it felt like it was back and forth based upon where we were playing, with a few exceptions.
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Willie rushed 2 on that play in 2005 and dropped a DL into coverage. The snap was off and any pressure would have stopped that play. Obviously I’m still pissed at Willie.
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He should really cry more.
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They’re also gonna have to recruit better.
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This was quite the entertaining post Senator, thank you. The Auburn rivalry has been the most quirky, head-scratching of my UGA fan lifetime (since 1978). More so in the past 20 years the team on paper that should win does not – but I’m grateful the Dawgs have come out on top lately. For a while in the 1990s and early 2000s the visiting team always won. Some of the most memorable for me hurt deeply (Ben Leard, the nobody QB for a terrible Auburn offense torching the UGA defense in 1999) and caused great elation (Greene to Johnson for the SEC East in 2002 … Kirby stealing one from Gus in 2016). This year’s game was going very much off script until the 4th quarter, which caused me to remark to my son just before the end, “Well it wouldn’t be an Auburn-UGA game unless there was drama at some point.”
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“Some of the most memorable for me hurt deeply.” You got that right, St. Johns Dawg. The 13-7 loss at home to the barners in ’83 was the only Home loss in the four years I attended UGA. It also denied those Junyard Dogs their fourth straight SEC Championship.
That was a helluva run. In those four years if those Dogs had the aerial game of even the 2019 Dawgs of which has us gnashing our teeth…
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You and I were in Athens at the exact same time. I had never seen us lose in Sanford (as a student) until then. We just didn’t know how to act- or how good we had it. After decades of mostly mediocrity it’s kind of fun to be on a somewhat similar run- less another Natty.
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If current record is 3-12 and you flip the 2005 and 2013 games, wouldn’t that make Auburn 1-14 against us in that time?
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The 2005 Auburn game was the genesis of Third and Willie, which was followed by the slightly better known Third and Grantham. The concept was more fully explored by Jim Chaney at UT in 07 and 08. GRRRRR
My memories are dim, but wasn’t the big play in the Auburn game a long 4th down pass and run by Auburn, because our DB’s didn’t know what coverage to play?
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Tra Battle had a borderline concussion from the 3rd down play if I remember the legend correctly.
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I was there …night game …my memory says Greg Blue got beat on that play
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Sorry, this dude reads like a War Eagle Mike Bianchi.
“…if the Tigers were good enough to have lost to the Gators and Bayou Bengals the way they lost to Georgia, they likely wouldn’t have lost to Georgia at all, so.”
Perhaps he missed the WLOCP. You’d think anyone watching football this long would know the transitive property doesn’t apply. Much less so in hypotheticals.
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So the Aubbies really think the overturned reception in the 4th Quarter could have “easily stood” huh? Am I being the crazed homer or are they?
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Only for some Barner hack who doesn’t understand the rules. When the WR is going backwards, the entire foot must comr down in bounds. The AU WR was going backwards. His toe was in, but his heel was clearly and unmistakablly over the sideline. I guess ignoring the actual rules is SOP fir AU fans.
Learn the rules, dumbass Barners
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I don’t even see why the foot issue comes into play. He’s double-clutching the ball as he’s going out of bounds! I’m going to echo Runlindsey above and ask am I being a crazed homer or is that not a clear indicator that he didn’t have possession?
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Agree, that one sentence cast doubt on his credibility. Both that call, and the onside kick review, were not 50/50 calls, they were 100% correct by the rules. The miracle of this game is the officials did not err badly on either. I haven’t heard a single UGA fan whine about the TD catch by Jackson being overturned on review last Saturday. How do you cry rivers about the correct call being made? But on AU’s message boards, they feel robbed. Another reason why Kirby should have stomped on their throat when we were up 21-0. Make them quit!
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This century, Auburn has beaten Georgia by 20+ points once (the regular-season meeting in 2017). Georgia has done it to Auburn six times (2006–07, 2011–12, ’14, and the 2017 SECCG). It’s nice to have luck on your side, but given the choice between one lucky bounce and just straight annihilating an opponent from the opening kickoff, I feel way more secure with the latter.
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Fun facts! Thank you, Doug. I can’t want to grind this in the faces of Auburn fans
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Eagle soup for the Bulldog soul.
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