The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Auburn Tigers for the eighth straight season, winning 20-10 under the lights at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Georgia trailed 10-0 early and nearly 17-0 late in the first half before a controversial call went the Bulldogs’ way.

For Auburn, it was the kind of start you dream about against a hated rival, dominating the first quarter. The Tigers were moving the ball up and down the field at will and getting into the end zone on their first drive after using up half of the first quarter.

It was Jackson Arnold who punched it in from two yards out to give the game its first points and cap off a scoring drive that spanned 14 plays and 75 yards over seven and a half minutes.

The Auburn defense was all over Gunner Stockton and the Bulldogs offense early and Georgia could not do a thing for a huge chunk of the first half, and Stockton was absolutely destroyed on an early sack.

After putting a field goal on the board early in the second quarter, things remained a slog there for a the rest of the half until right at the end. Arnold at first seemingly broke the plain for Auburn and scored a touchdown which would have taken a commanding 17-0 lead into the locker room.

As Auburn players had their hands in the air though, the ball was picked up by Georgia and controversy immediately ensued. The ball had been punched out of Arnold’s hands at the same moment he was breaking the plane, leaving the refs with a very tough call which went on the field as a fumble.

Following an extremely lengthy review, the officials stuck with the fumble call rather than the touchdown, giving Georgia the ball instead of Auburn seven points. The Bulldogs were able to make a field goal late aided by Tigers penalties as a livid Hugh Freeze lost his mind on the sidelines, as did the players on the field, leading to a 10-3 halftime score.

In the second half, Georgia got the ball back on an Auburn dropped pass — or high throw — from Arnold to Preston Howard on fourth down, and the Dawgs took advantage.

The Tigers were just not able to overcome the tough luck on the call, failing to score a point in the second half as Georgia just continuously squeezed the life out of them. The Bulldogs would take the lead on a third quarter field goal and kept Arnold from moving the ball until they were able to put things out of reach with a Stockton late rushing touchdown.

A 16-play drive which took nine minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter for Georgia and finishing with Stockton’s legs was the final dagger of the night.

Arnold finished 19 of 31 for just 137 yards, though he did finish again as the team’s leading rusher with 55 yards and a score. In a defensive battle, Stockton was also Georgia’s leading rusher with just 29 yards

Next up for Auburn will be another home game against the Missouri Tigers where Freeze will try once more to get his first SEC victory of the season.