Auburn defensive back ejected for targeting against Georgia
If Auburn is going to do what appears to be near impossible and pull an upset over No. 2 Georgia, they are going to have to do it without one of their veteran defensemen.
Auburn safety Smoke Monday was ejected from Saturday’s contest after this hit on Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett.
Monday was ejected for targeting against Georgia last year as well. He is an Atlanta native.
On the season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound safery has 18 tackles and an interception, which he returned for a touchdown against Georgia State. The senior has at least one interception in each year of his college career. Last season, he earned second team all-SEC recognition.
In the third quarter, Georgia leads the Tigers 24-3. Auburn scored first before allowing 24 straight points. Quarterback Bo Nix is 16-for-32 with 144 yards and an interception. Star running back Tank Bigsby has seven carries for 17 yards plus three catches for 22 yards.
Unsurprisingly, the Georgia defense is stifling the Tigers. Auburn’s third down conversion percentage entering the game was .514, which is 11th in the nation. They have converted just four of 14 third down opportunities against the Dawgs. Georgia is the top scoring defense in the country, allowing just 4.6 points per game. Iowa is second at 11.6.
Surprise visitors in Jordan-Hare student section
A couple of familiar faces joined the Tigers student section during the game on Saturday. Auburn football legend Cam Newton joined a shirtless Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s head basketball coach, in the sea of blue and orange college kids.
Newton, who had stops at Florida and JUCO Blinn College before coming to Auburn, won the 2010 Heisman Trophy and led the Tigers to a national championship over Oregon that season.
That year he threw for 2,854 yards 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions and added 20 rushing touchdowns as well. He is currently a free agent in the NFL after the Patriots cut the veteran just prior to the start of the NFL season.
In just seven years as the head basketball coach in Auburn, Pearl has led the Tigers to 138 wins, two SEC championships and the program’s first ever Final Four appearance. In 2019, the Tigers lost a controversial heartbreaker in their Final Four appearance to the Virginia Cavaliers, the eventual national champions.