ATHENS, Ga. — Alex McPherson kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired Saturday, and 19.5-point underdog Auburn stunned No. 1 Georgia 27-24 at Sanford Stadium in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. The Auburn Georgia upset marks the second straight week the AP No. 1 team has lost to an unranked foe — the first time that has happened in back-to-back weeks since October 1990. Few chapters in the Auburn Georgia series have ended with this much late drama.
It didn’t look like the 93-game home winning streak of AP No. 1 teams against unranked opponents would end Saturday. Georgia raced to a 14-0 lead after two drives, but Auburn answered with 24 unanswered points — sparked by a trick-play running-back pass to Keshaun Singleton — to take a 24-14 lead into the fourth quarter.
Georgia clawed back. Peyton Woodring’s 42-yard field goal cut the deficit, and Gunner Stockton led a 13-play, 94-yard touchdown drive that began at the Georgia 6 and ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to London Humphreys, tying the game at 24 with 2:58 to play.
Then came the decisive turnover. With 58 seconds left and Georgia driving for a potential go-ahead field goal, Stockton fumbled on a designed quarterback draw from the Auburn 46. Cody Sigler forced it, safety Sylvester Smith-Reed recovered at Auburn’s 44, and three running plays plus a roughing-the-passer penalty on Georgia’s Gabe Harris Jr. set up McPherson. It was Auburn’s first walk-off field goal in regulation since Wes Byrum clinched the 2010 national championship against Oregon.
Auburn Georgia Stunner Built on Byrum Brown’s Legs
Quarterback Byrum Brown was the engine of the Auburn Georgia shocker, running for 115 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries while throwing for 150 yards and another score. Brown ran for 13 of his 115 yards on the game-winning drive, consistently breaking containment against a defense that had suffocated opponents all season.
Auburn beat Georgia on the ground, outrushing the Bulldogs 192-113, even though Georgia outgained the Tigers 440-366 overall. Georgia tailback Nate Frazier returned from a rib injury to start but was ineffective, gaining only 19 yards on nine carries.
The loss snapped Georgia’s 53-game winning streak against unranked teams and dropped Kirby Smart to 65-1 when holding a 14-point lead with the Bulldogs. It also ended Georgia’s nine-game winning streak over Auburn and a short one-week stay atop the AP Top 25 — the kind of Auburn Georgia result that will be replayed for decades.
Auburn Georgia Win Is the Program’s Biggest in Decades
The Auburn Georgia triumph was the Tigers’ first win in Athens in 31 years and their sixth victory over a No. 1 team in program history — the fifth since 1990, the most of any program in the FBS. The previous five: 1942 over Georgia, 1994 over Florida, 2001 over Florida, 2013 over Alabama and 2017 over Alabama.
“When they turned it over, I knew my guys were going to get me into range,” McPherson said. “Just go out and execute and have their back. Hudson Powell and Hudson Kaak did a great job, great snap and hold. Our entire line did a great job and made my job pretty easy.”
“I saw that he tucked the ball and I reacted to it quickly,” Smith-Reed said of the fumble recovery. “Sigler got the ball out, the ball’s on the ground, all I had to do was fly to it and jump on top of it. It was either us or them. I wanted it more.”
The win gave first-year head coach Alex Golesh a signature victory early in his Auburn tenure — the program’s second road win over a top-ranked team ever and its first since 1994. “I’m happy for our guys, I’m happy for our staff,” Golesh said. “The thing I’m most proud of is that nobody flinched. That’s the sign of a team that believes in each other.”
What the Auburn Georgia Upset Means for the SEC Race
Stockton’s fumble was his third turnover of the day, adding to a two-interception outing that doubled his previous season total through six games. Georgia’s mistakes — including three personal foul penalties — proved costly in a game the Bulldogs statistically controlled.
Auburn (4-2, 2-2 SEC) now sits squarely in the SEC title race conversation and travels to face LSU in Week 8, though programs that pull off such upsets often struggle with the subsequent emotional hangover. Georgia (6-1, 4-1 SEC) remains firmly in the College Football Playoff picture, but the Auburn Georgia result has thrown the conference hierarchy — and the national title race — wide open heading into late October. For now, the Auburn Georgia upset stands as the defining moment of the 2026 college football season.