Georgia vs. Auburn series history
Rivalries are one of the many things that makes college football great. It doesn't matter how bad one team in a rivalry is, you can never count that team out. That rings especially true for the "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry."
Upsets are one of the cornerstones of Georgia football's 125-plus-year-old rivalry with Auburn. When one team is on the fast track to a championship, the other is there to spoil their season. Even ties in the Georgia/Auburn rivalry are legendary. That's how spiteful the rivalry is.
"Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" isn't just a catchy title, it describes one of the other cornerstones of the series. Georgia and Auburn first met in Atlanta in 1892. The Tigers won the inaugural game 10-0. Since 1898, the Bulldogs and Tigers have met every season in which both programs were active.
The next cornerstone is parity. Georgia leads the series with a 60-56-8 record and the Bulldogs only recently took the lead. Of the 124 meetings, 53 were decided by seven points or less and 82 were decided by two scores or less. You'd be hard-pressed to find a rivalry as close as Georgia/Auburn.
Notable victories
November 14, 1959: Georgia hosted Auburn in ‘59 with a chance to clinch the SEC Championship. Auburn was still in the hunt for the title and were looking to spoil Georgia's season. The Tigers were well on their way to achieving that with a 13-7 with 30 seconds left in the game. Bulldog quarterback Fran Tarkenton had different plans, drawing a play in the huddle. The scrambler ran to his right and heaved a deep pass to Bill Herron on the left side of the field. Herron caught the pass and marched into the end zone for the score. Georgia won 14-13 and claimed its first SEC title since 1948.
November 12, 1994: This wasn't a win, but it sure felt like it and it certainly damaged Auburn's program. The Tigers entered the game on a 20-game winning streak. Georgia meanwhile had only won 10 games in the same amount of time. During its streak, Auburn had a knack for winning close games. That all crumbled down when Auburn missed a field goal in the last minute, preserving the 23-23 tie. Auburn's unbeaten streak ended in the Iron Bowl a week later and the Tigers never sniffed a national title again under head coach Terry Bowden.
November 16, 1996: Just two years after tying, the Bulldogs and Tigers again ended regulation with a knotted score. But this time, overtime rules were on the books and Georgia/Auburn played the first overtime game in SEC history. The Bulldogs trailed 28-7 in the middle of the second quarter but scored 21-unanswered, including a last-second throw to Corey Allen to force the OT. Georgia outlasted Auburn in four overtime periods to win the game.
2017 SEC Championship Game: 2017 was the first time both schools had met twice in the same year. Georgia and Auburn had played in plenty of "de facto" SEC championship games, but this was the real deal. Auburn had embarrassed the Bulldogs weeks prior and was favored to repeat that performance in Atlanta. The opposite happened as Georgia outscored Auburn 28-0 in the last 40 minutes to claim the conference title and a playoff birth.
You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the top righthand corner of the page. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook @BulldogMaven & follow us on Twitter at @DawgsDailySI.
