Analysis: Breaking down fourth-quarter sack that held UGA’s chance for SEC East title

Travon Walker buried Auburn quarterback Bo Nix into the turf and sprinted toward the sideline. Georgia head coach Kirby Smart waited for him to display his vertical on a chest bump. He doesn’t have much of one, and contact with a 290-pound defensive lineman went in less-than-ideal fashion.

As soon as their chests hit, Smart toppled to the ground and slid under Walker’s legs — a decision that could’ve come with a risk of injury warning. But does the fourth-year head coach who won his first road game against an SEC West opponent regret it?

“Hell no,” Smart said in a passionate postgame presser. “I’d chest bump Travon all day. I thought I might lose an ACL, but I was committed to it.”

Walker entered Jordan-Hare Stadium to play in just his eighth collegiate game, but certainly didn’t perform like it in the most crucial moment. To be quite frank, that fourth-down snap served as Georgia’s pivotal moment of the season if it hoped to stay in College Football Playoff contention. And the Bulldogs chose Walker to engage in pursuit of Nix.

He lined up at defensive tackle. Nix stepped back into the pocket and couldn’t be comfortable for long as Walker broke free on a stunt. Keep one thing in mind — the kid is 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds. He screams speed. Legitimate speed, and he showed it when Georgia pleaded for it.

Walker exploded around the line-of-scrimmage and silenced an Auburn crowd that conjured a one-of-a-kind hostile atmosphere. He played frequently on third- and fourth-down packages, and made his noise in the fourth quarter. A tackle on the previous drive to force fourth down preceded the sack.

“We’ve got to find more ways to play the guy,” Smart said. “He’s probably one of our better overall football players. … He’s talented and extremely athletic.”

Said linebacker Monty Rice: “He’s only a freshman but that was clutch. If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

As Walker sprinted back toward his teammates, Georgia’s offense broke the huddle to the tune of its sweetest dream. A chant of “U-G-A” overriding a stunned home crowd and quarterback Jake Fromm in victory formation. The Bulldogs claimed their third-consecutive win over Auburn and a third-consecutive trip to the conference title game.

All thanks to a freshman who flashed the talents intertwined with a five-star recruiting moniker. In a fourth quarter that resembled an ever-swinging pendulum, he solidified the Bulldogs’ final wave of momentum.

“Time to go home,” Rice thought during the final sequence. “It’s time to go home.”

Georgia nearly let its lead slip, despite three-and-a-half quarters of sound football. Auburn struggled in most offensive facets. Auburn, who boasts the SEC’s second-best run game with an average of 219 yards per game entering play, looked incapable against the Bulldogs’ vaunted group that hadn’t relinquished a rushing touchdown through nine games. The Tigers narrowed themselves down to one dimension. When the pass struggled, too, Auburn’s only proficiency came in the kicking game (same can be said for Georgia) as Aaryn Siposs had seven punts.

Everything looked as sweet as sugar falling from the sky. The scoreboard read 21-0 as cell-phone lights twinkled to the tune of Krypton Fanfare and the white-clad Bulldogs could sniff a shutout. It would’ve been their fourth of the season, a feat that Georgia hasn’t reached since 1976. No points also meant no rushing touchdowns, and Georgia has been the lone FBS team to do so through nine games.

With that big of a lead, Georgia admittedly loosened up. Nothing changed schematically, nor did any of them admit breaking the so-called “Georgia standard” mandate. But focus wavered, according to Rice, and the Bulldogs became a tad relaxed.

Nix found wide receiver Eli Stove on a sweep-style pass for a 3-yard touchdown, and momentum trickled the Tigers’ way. However, Auburn still didn’t have a pulse while trailing by two scores. An onside kick recovered by the Tigers brought a new level of energy to the stadium and an electrifying level of noise rattled Georgia. The kick was overturned upon review due to a penalty, but a Georgia 3-and-out followed and punter Jake Camarda had to return for another boot — he had 11 punts, something that Smart hopes “never happens again.”

At that moment, Auburn went to work and broke Georgia’s streak. Passes of 24 and 14 yards to receiver Seth Williams set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Jartavious “Boobee” Whitlow to narrow the Bulldogs’ lead to a single score. The game’s result seemed in flux for the first time.

“We just wore them down a little bit,” Auburn right tackle Jack Driscoll said. “We just started to click a little.”

Said cornerback Eric Stokes: “They were going to start rolling. They’ve got a really good offense. It’s hard to hold somebody to zero points. We knew eventually.”

Said safety J.R. Reed: “We didn’t play perfect, so it’s kind of upsetting. But you can’t be too upset when you win.”

Georgia found its stroke of luck as Auburn drove down the field on its second-to-last drive. Nix seemingly had an intermediate pass complete to Williams, but was overturned on an out-of-bounds call after review. Then, on a 4th-and-2, the Tigers opted for a swing pass to Whitlow and he dropped possession.

Auburn relinquished possession, and Georgia went three-and-out … again. But in that instance, the Bulldogs still had an advantage as the Tigers burned all three of their timeouts. Two minutes, three seconds remained and a heroic feat needed to occur in order to force overtime. Nearly something resembling “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare” in 2013 had to fall in Auburn’s favor.

Georgia’s defense, though, relishes this spot. They did it against Notre Dame. They did it against Florida, too. Fiery defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, a nominee for the Broyles Award, fuels his leadership on situational football such as this. Georgia knew one thing, Auburn was going to place it on Nix’s shoulders. No other choice remained with all timeouts exhausted.

The Bulldogs could sell out on it. Two-minute drill time it became.

“We practice this everyday,” Stokes said. “It came as second-nature to us.”

Georgia proved it.

Auburn’s drive:

1st-and-10, Auburn 27: Nix pass incomplete to Will Hastings

2nd-and-10, Auburn 27: Nix pass incomplete to Whitlow

3rd-and-10, Auburn 27: Nix pass incomplete to Williams

4th-and-10, Auburn 27: Nix sacked for a 5-yard loss

4 plays, -5 yards, 0:24 used

One last stand was all it took for a Georgia defense that emerged as elite despite a wavering final quarter.

And the freshman turned out the lights.

“We kept fighting,” Rice said. “There can only be one fighter standing at the end.”