Hidden Turnovers in Action - Georgia vs Auburn 2023

In our last blog post we defined some Driver Charts terminology as we discussed the importance of Hidden Turnovers and provided some in depth analysis supporting their importance to the outcome of college football games. If you missed it, you can check it out here. 

For this post we are going to look at a game where the winning team lost the turnover battle but won the hidden turnover battle. On September 30 of last year in Jordan-Hare Stadium an unranked, 3-2 Auburn team gave the undefeated top-ranked defending back-to-back national champions Georgia all they could handle. Georgia was able to squeeze out a victory, but not before Auburn had them on the ropes with a surprising rushing attack, a couple of forced turnovers and an early 10-point lead. 

Auburn struck first with a field goal on their second possession with the help of a 61-yard run by Peyton Thorne. Georgia promptly turned the ball over on their next possession with an interception inside their own territory. Auburn took advantage of this turnover and put the ball in the end zone for a 10-point lead.  

Georgia rallied back on the next 3 possessions, with a TD, a 3 & out from Auburn (Hidden Turnover – drink!), and a field goal to tie the game. But the turnover bug struck Georgia again on their 6th possession, where a forced fumble was recovered by Auburn deep in plus territory.  3 plays later, Auburn was in the end zone. 

From this point forward, it was all Georgia (all Brock Bowers, really). Georgia tied the game on their 8th possession with a touchdown. Georgia forced Auburn’s fifth hidden turnover of the game on the next possession, then finally took the lead with a field goal. Auburn tied the game on the next possession, but then Brock Bowers took over, where he had two catches for 56 yards on Georgia’s final drive of the game.  

Auburn got the ball back with almost 3 minutes left in the game, but Georgia forced yet another hidden turnover when Auburn failed to get a first down. The headline of the game was Auburn’s surprising competitiveness and advantage in the turnover department, but what wasn’t talked about enough was the six hidden turnovers that Georgia forced.  

Perhaps the two most critical were Auburn’s turnover on downs on their ninth possession. The Tigers drove down to the Dawgs 12-yard line and smelled blood in the water when they had a 3rd & 1. Auburn failed to convert and decided to go for it on 4th down, unsuccessfully. The second notable hidden turnover was the 3 & out that was sandwiched between 2 Georgia scoring drives. Let’s not overlook Georgia’s other 4 hidden turnovers, though. They were critical in keeping the game within reach.  On this day, hidden turnovers trumped turnovers.