Five at the half: Notes and thoughts at halftime of Georgia-Auburn

Here are five notes and thoughts at the halftime, with Georgia leading Auburn 10-7.

A big momentum swing

Auburn looked poised to take a two-score lead early in the second quarter. But like he has all season long, outside linebacker Davin Bellamy came up with a key play when he sacked Jarrett Stidham on third down deep in Georgia territory. This forced a fumble, which Auburn had a chance to recover. Instead, however, the ball stayed free and Roquan Smith was able to recover.

From there, Georgia’s offense came alive. Nick Chubb hit a hole up the middle for 16 yards. Jake Fromm hit Mecole Hardman for 13 yards on third down. Hardman then hit a big play over the middle on a run-pass option. Georgia then got a touchdown to even the score at 7-7 when Fromm faked a toss and found Isaac Nauta for his second touchdown of the season.

From there, Georgia’s team was operating at a different level. Its performance started slow and it seemed like a repeat may be on hand in the early going. But credit the Bulldogs for turning things around.

Smith came to play

Inside linebacker Roquan Smith has enjoyed a tremendous season. His first half against Auburn was maybe the best 30 minutes he’s played all year long.

Smith totaled eight tackles, with seven of them coming by himself. His final tackle of the half came when bursting through the middle on a blitz to sack quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

Smith has been all over the field, plugging holes in the middle and keeping the runners from hitting the edge.

Hardman’s big half

Speaking of Hardman, he played a major role in the first half for Georgia’s offense. With Auburn press-manning the outside receivers, Hardman got some attention out of the slot.

He finished the half with three catches for 63 yards. His role should continue to grow as the game goes on.

Accuracy on display

Both quarterbacks -- Fromm and Auburn’s Jarrett Stidham -- put on a show with their accuracy in the first half. Fromm finished the half 9-of-10 for 119 yards and a touchdown and picked up steam in the second quarter.

At one point, Fromm had completed nine consecutive passes.

Stidham completed his first eight passes of the game and ended the half 10-of-12 for 73 yards and a score.

About the officiating...

Georgia and Auburn came to play. The officiating crew, well, what exactly was it watching?

Two plays stood out in particular, and both of them went against Georgia. In the first quarter, Georgia defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter drove Stidham into the turf as he was letting go of a pass. The referee ruled that Ledbetter roughed the passer, even though the ball was just coming out of Stidham’s hand on the hit. The second call came on what should have been a Georgia touchdown.

Terry Godwin and Javon Wims were running rub routes on the left side of the formation. But the Auburn defender guarding Wims pushed him into the DB guarding Godwin. That left Godwin open. Never did Wims initiate contact on the play. Georgia settled for the field goal two plays later instead of having the touchdown.

No one comes to these games to watch the officiating crew blow big calls, regardless of who the beneficiary is.

This story was originally published December 2, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Five at the half: Notes and thoughts at halftime of Georgia-Auburn."