Auburn Destroys No. 1 Georgia in 23-Point Win; Nick Chubb Held to 27 Yards

The Auburn Tigers are making a bid to become the first two-loss team to make the College Football Playoff after dominating the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in a 40-17 win on Saturday. 

Auburn's two losses have come by a combined 12 points, including a 14-6 defeat against No. 4 Clemson. The Tigers' end-of-season schedule could include another game against Georgia and the Iron Bowl against Alabama on Nov. 25. 

If Auburn defeats Alabama to win the SEC West and gets another win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, even with two losses, it will be hard for the College Football Playoff selection committee to argue against that resume. 

Per the SEC Network, Auburn's 23-point win is the largest ever against a team ranked No. 1 in the College Football Playoff standings.

After falling behind 7-0 on the first drive of the game, Auburn took complete control of things. The Tigers scored 30 unanswered points, including Darius Slayton making a terrific adjustment on a 42-yard pass from quarterback Jarrett Stidham to haul in their first touchdown:

In his first season with Auburn after previously playing at Baylor in 2015, Stidham has been a revelation. The sophomore sensation has seven games with at least 200 yards passing, including his 214-yard, three-touchdown showing Saturday. The Tigers ranked112th out of 128 FBS teams last season with 169.5 passing yards per game. 

Stidham also had great support from his teammates. Running back Kerryon Johnson, in particular, picked apart Georgia's defense with 167 rushing yards, 66 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown and became the first rusher to break the century mark against the Bulldogs in 2017.

CBS Sports' Barrett Sallee thinks Johnson should be considered for the highest individual honor in college football after this showing:

Jim Dunaway of 94.5 FM in Birmingham was particularly enamored with Johnson's showing:

This was also a statement win for oft-maligned Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, who heard fans clamoring for his firing after the loss against Clemson just two months ago. 

Per Brandon Marcello of 247Sports, Malzahn now has the ability to fire back at all of those critics with one simple question:

Nick Chubb has been the leader of Georgia's offense with 867 rushing yards and nine touchdowns coming into this showdown against Auburn. Despite passing Bo Jackson on the SEC's all-time rushing list, the senior star had no answers, tallying just 27 rushing yards. The team as a whole had just 46 yards on 32 carries. 

B/R's Marcus Mosher noted after last week's win against South Carolina that Chubb was on fire over Georgia's past five games:

Fromm wasn't asked to do much during the team's 9-0 start. He had six games during that stretch with 15 or fewer pass attempts, so putting him up against the nation's 19th-best pass defense would show how far along he was on the development curve. 

After starting the game 3-of-3 for 56 yards on the opening drive, Fromm went just 10-of-25 for 128 yards and one touchdown with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, after the outcome was long decided. 

Even with Georgia's overall success in the first nine games, ESPN's Edward Aschoff noted one SEC defensive coordinator said he was "skeptical" of what Fromm was capable of doing when the pressure intensified and Georgia needed him to make a play. 

Auburn's defense stifled Fromm all day, though he was hardly alone in that regard. Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney was catching heat for some of his play-calling. 

Carl Dukes of 92.9 The Game wanted to see the Bulldogs attempt a few screen passes in an effort to get the offense rolling:

Former Georgia wide receiver Justin Scott-Wesley called out the receivers for their performance throughout the season:

"

I haven't been pleased with the play of our WRs all season. I dont say much because we keep winning... one dimensional.

— J.S. Wesley (@Real_JSW) November 11, 2017"

Georgia's offense has been built around running the ball, which is why it's been easy to hide Fromm and the wide receivers. The Bulldogs entered Saturday leading the SEC with 279.3 yards per game on the ground. 

Simple mistakes also hurt Georgia's comeback efforts. Rodrigo Blankenship missed a 42-yard field goal at the end of the first half that would have cut Auburn's lead to 16-10. 

After Georgia's defense forced a three-and-out to start the third quarter, Mecole Hardman came up empty trying to catch a punt:

For a Georgia team that has been so fundamentally sound all year, this game saw how the Bulldogs would respond to adversity:

Midway through the third quarter, one Georgia supporter in the stands at Jordan-Hare Stadium captured the mood of the entire fanbase:

ESPN's Brad Edwards did put forth an interesting scenario regarding the playoff selection committee when they determine next week's standings:

All the committee can argue against Auburn now is having one extra loss. That might be enough to keep the Tigers behind the Bulldogs in the standings, but there was no doubt who the better team was on this day. 

The upside for Georgia is there's still hope it can make the playoff field. There's no margin for error in the final two regular-season games against Kentucky and Georgia Tech before the SEC Championship Game. 

Georgia could get a second shot to defeat Auburn, or it will play a potentially undefeated Alabama team for the conference title. That will be the final impression the Bulldogs make on the selection committee, and it could be a good one if they learn from this performance. 

On the other side of things, Auburn has the chance to make a substantial move up the rankings after coming in at No. 10 this week. The Tigers got the marquee win they needed to erase the bitter taste of those two previous losses and now control their destiny in the SEC West two weeks away from a date with Alabama.