Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis (5) makes the catch to score the game-winning touchdown last season. Auburn won 43-38.ATHENS, Ga. - One of the greatest comebacks in Georgia football history was nearly complete.
After trailing 37-17 early in the fourth quarter of last year's game in Auburn, the Bulldogs had rallied for a 38-37 lead and had the Tigers facing a fourth-and-18 from their 27-yard line with 36 seconds remaining. Georgia dropped eight defenders into coverage, and a desperation heave by Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall was certain to be either intercepted or batted away.
"I was guarding Sammie Coates toward the middle, and we hadn't made it that far down yet," Georgia defensive back Damian Swann recalled this week. "As the ball went up, we both started kind of looking at it, and what happened after that everybody saw. That doesn't happen too often, but it did."
Marshall's pass was intended for Ricardo Louis, but his launch was heading straight toward Bulldogs safety Tray Matthews. Straight for Matthews, that is, until Josh Harvey-Clemons collided into his fellow safety and managed to tip the ball with his right hand.
The ball floated up just enough for Louis to snag it for a 73-yard touchdown that sent Jordan Hare-Stadium into delirium as the Tigers pulled out a 43-38 thriller.
"It was just jaw-dropping," Bulldogs quarterback Hutson Mason said. "I couldn't believe it, and it was just one of those plays that probably happens once every 100 years. I got to see it live, and it's definitely something that you will remember for the rest of your life, unfortunately."
Auburn had a week off after stunning the Bulldogs and then managed to shock Alabama 34-28 for the SEC West title on a Chris Davis return of a 57-yard Alabama field-goal attempt that came up short. The Tigers then raced past Missouri in the league championship game and played in the BCS title tilt for the second time in four seasons.
For the Bulldogs, last season's loss at Auburn ended any hopes of a third consecutive SEC East crown. Georgia entered Jordan-Hare with a 4-2 league record and trailed Missouri, which was 5-1 at the time and wound up closing league play with wins over Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
"The loss stung, without any doubt," Georgia coach Mark Richt said, "but if that had kept us from Atlanta, then it might have been even worse to deal with. Then the Alabama-Auburn game was even more dramatic than ours, so it took a lot of attention away from the way our game ended."
With No. 9 Auburn visiting No. 16 Georgia this Saturday night in Sanford Stadium, Bulldogs players insist Marshall-to-Louis by way of Matthews and Harvey-Clemons is not serving as any kind of motivation.
"It's not a revenge factor, because the two guys who were involved in the play are not here anymore," Swann said. "We have a new team from last year with new guys, and we've got a whole new coaching staff on defense. Things have changed to the point where we can forget about that and worry about this week."
Said Mason: "It's not like we're holding a grudge. We've moved on. It was just a heck of a play."
Todd Grantham was in his fourth season as Georgia's defensive coordinator last November but left in January for the same position at Louisville. Harvey-Clemons was dismissed from Georgia in February and transferred to Louisville.
Matthews was dismissed in June and wound up, of all places, at Auburn.
Georgia senior center David Andrews was among several Bulldogs players the CBS cameras caught after Auburn's miraculous score. He had a bewildered look as he stood beside former quarterback Aaron Murray, who slammed his hat to the ground in disgust.
Andrews described the 73-yard touchdown as "heartbreaking" but joined in as far as believing it will not be a cause for motivation Saturday night.
"It's motivation because it's Auburn, not because of anything that happened in the past," he said. "We can't control that. It's Auburn, and there is a lot on the line."
Odds and ends
Richt said after Wednesday's two-hour practice that he was hopeful freshman tailback Sony Michel (ankle) would play but that junior tailback Keith Marshall is doubtful. ... Freshman quarterback Jacob Park, who is redshirting this season, is emulating Auburn's Marshall in practice this week. ... Christian Owens, a Rivals.com four-star tight end out of Griffin, Ga., announced Wednesday that he was switching his commitment from Georgia to South Carolina.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.