ATHENS, Ga. – Twelve plays, 70 yards, touchdown.

Six plays, 77 yards, touchdown.

Six plays, 40 yards, touchdown.

And just like that it was over — Georgia 21, Auburn 7 — a little less than 20 minutes into the 115th meeting of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

Georgia scored on three of its first four drives — the other one ended with a fumble that the Bulldogs got right back after Auburn’s Mike Dyer put it on the ground one play later — and never looked back.

Except to catch the ball.

“Very disappointing,” Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. “They did what we worked against. It’s just disappointing. We got beat. There’s no silver lining. There’s no sugar coating. It’s just, we got beat.

“We were not good in any phase tonight.”

Early, it was in pass defense.

Georgia racked up 326 yards of offense — 216 passing — in the first half, taking serious advantage of the Auburn secondary.

Bulldog quarterback Aaron Murray did most of his damage (13-for-16 and four touchdowns in the first half) on back-shoulder throws deep down field, purposely underthrowing the ball to put it where only his receiver could catch it and leaving the Tiger defensive back out of position.

It worked time after time, as Murray hit passes down the field of 44, 35, 27, 25 and 22 all in the first two quarters.

“You know the old adage that the toughest ball to defend is the underthrown ball?” Roof said, “We just got to snap our head around, find the ball and come back on it.

“It’s not just a coverage deal, it’s a pressure deal. We’ve got to find a way to get more pressure on the quarterback.”

Auburn did finish with three sacks, however. But that was the first half.

The second half was all Georgia running backs Isaiah Crowell (132 yards on 24 carries) and Carlton Thomas (127 yards on 15 carries), as the Bulldogs ran 56 times for 304 yards, grinding out the clock in the final two quarters. The Bulldogs only threw twice after halftime.

“They just physically dominated us,” said Auburn defensive end Corey Lemonier, who finished with seven tackles and two sacks.

Auburn’s third-down woes showed up again, as Georgia converted 12-of-15 third downs on the night, including 7-of-8 in the first half.

“It hurts a lot, because you put in so much work getting ready for these big-time games in November,” defensive end Nosa Eguae said. “Just to come out and not be on top and get beat the way we did, it hurts.

“We’ve just got to come back. That’s the only thing we can do from a loss like this, is come back.”