Grading Auburn football's upset of top-ranked Georgia: Full report card

ATHENS, Ga. — After five weeks that only did so much to impress, Auburn football got the statement victory it wanted, beating top-ranked Georgia27-24 on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Sanford Stadium.

It marked the program’s first win in Athens since 2005 and bucked the Bulldogs’ nine-game winning streak in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

How impressive was it? Take a look at our report card for Auburn‘s performance, including letter grades for every side of the ball.

Auburn football walks off top-ranked Georgia with game-winning field goal

Kirby Smart said it himself during his halftime interview with ESPN, Auburn controlled the line of scrimmage on offense and dominated on the ground. It looked like progress after weeks of stagnation, and it led to an emphatic sort of upset.

It was back to the baseline, which often looked like bend-but-do-not-break for Auburn’s defense. It struggled mightily to cap the chunk plays in moments, but it came up with the big play three times over.

Nearly half of Hudson Kaak’s punts pinned Georgia inside its own 20, and to top it off, Alex McPherson plays hero with a walk-off winner.

From an offensive standpoint, Auburn looked overhauled. That provided the gameplan to battle a program with an ever-stout defense. It also found success on an opening drive in the second half, delivering a crucial touchdown that gave Auburn 24 unanswered points.

That was certainly what Alex Golesh has wanted his vision of Auburn to look like. The ground-and-pound mixed with explosive plays, the defense forced turnovers and now Auburn has something that felt lost long ago: a sliver of hope.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.To support Adam’s work, please subscribe to the Montgomery Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Grading Auburn football’s upset of top-ranked Georgia: Full report card