College football chaos continues. Just one week after Texas lost its spot as the AP poll’s No. 1 team, the team that replaced it — Georgia — was toppled by unranked Auburn 27-24 in Athens on a walk-off field goal. The numbers behind the upset are absolutely staggering.
Auburn vs Georgia (Credits: ESPN)
195 Straight, Snapped
Auburn fell behind 14-0 early, a deficit that has historically been a death knell against the top team in the land. Entering the week, unranked teams trailing the AP No. 1 team by 14+ points had lost 195 consecutive games. The last unranked team to overcome a 14-point deficit against No. 1? Nick Saban’s Michigan State Spartans in 1998. Auburn’s comeback ended that streak — and a 53-game winning streak over unranked teams by Georgia along with it.
The headline stat of them all: it’s the first time since 1990 that the No. 1 team has lost to an unranked opponent in consecutive weeks, after Oklahoma beat then-No. 1 Texas the week before. Auburn is also the first unranked team to upset No. 1 on the road since 2007.
Brown, Stockton’s Turnovers, and the Walk-Off
Auburn quarterback Byrum Brown was the star, rushing for 115 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries while adding a scoring pass — the first QB with 100+ rushing yards in a win over AP No. 1 since Vince Young in the 2005 BCS title game. Auburn outrushed Georgia 192-113.
Georgia clawed back to tie it in the fourth, but quarterback Gunner Stockton committed his third turnover of the game — a fumble with 58 seconds left — and Alex McPherson drilled the game-winning 34-yard field goal as time expired. Auburn moves to 4-2 under first-year coach Alex Golesh; Georgia falls to 6-1.
Also Read: Auburn’s Caption Tops ESPN’s College Football Trolls From Week 7
Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
