Five at the half: Notes and thoughts at halftime of Georgia's game against Auburn

AUBURN, Ala. – Here are five thoughts at the half, with Auburn leading Georgia 10-3.

The goal line sequence made absolutely no sense.

Georgia got the ball down to the Auburn 2-yard line midway through the second quarter and faced a second-and-1, with a first down available at the 1. From there, a head-scratcher ensued. Lambert tossed the ball to Sony Michel, who couldn’t hang on and was fortunate to recover his own fumble. On third-and-1, Lambert operated out of the shotgun and ran the read-option with Michel. Of course, Lambert handed it off and Michel was stopped for no gain. On fourth down, Lambert passed out of the gun and threw it behind Malcolm Mitchell. Georgia missed a potential chance to score a touchdown by sticking to the basics. Running power football with a lead-blocking fullback should have been in order, considering it worked for most of the half.

Georgia goes conventional and ditches the hurry-up.

Remember when Georgia wanted to move at a fast pace to start this year? Yeah, those days appear done. Georgia’s coaches appear to know this team, with its quarterback situation, can’t press anyone. So the Bulldogs are back to running a ball-control oriented offense where they’re huddling in between plays. Georgia ended up having the ball for 17:28 in the first half. However, a lot of that has to do with Auburn’s fast-paced attack as well.

Georgia added a new wild dog wrinkle to the package.

Perhaps Georgia is setting something up for the second half with its wild dog formation, considering the new wrinkle it put in. Sony Michel took some direct snaps with Brendan Douglas lined up next to him. Isaiah McKenzie would run the jet sweep in motion and Michel had the option of handing it to McKenzie or faking it to run on his own, with Douglas blocking. There are other things Georgia can do out of this look as well, which remains to be seen if Georgia will try them in the second half.

Auburn’s rushing attack has its way with Georgia defense.

Georgia has been solid against the run over the last few weeks, even against Florida until the fourth quarter. Not so much against Auburn. The Bulldogs had some issues setting the edges, which contributed to the Tigers rolling up 161 yards of offense on the ground. Auburn wants to run and Georgia allowed the Tigers to do just that. Georgia should feel lucky that Auburn wasn’t able to put up more points than it did.

Malkom Parrish recorded his first career interception in the second quarter.

It sure would be interesting to know what Parrish’s vertical leap is. Following a poor throw from Auburn quarterback Jeremy Johnson, Parrish skied high to come down with his first-ever interception. The pick was crucial for Georgia as it gave the ball back to the offense, which previously gave the ball up on downs at the 2-yard line. Georgia was then able to run some clock and get a field goal out of it.

This story was originally published November 14, 2015 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Five at the half: Notes and thoughts at halftime of Georgia's game against Auburn."