Darius Slayton had trouble corralling his emotions during the leadup to the 121st edition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. As a Georgia native and one-time Bulldogs commit, Saturday's top-10 matchup against No. 1 Georgia was, on some levels, personal to the Auburn wide receiver.
Slayton didn't let those emotions get the best of him, but his performance in Jordan-Hare Stadium helped the Tigers get the best of the Bulldogs. Slayton hauled in a 42-yard touchdown catch to spark No. 10 Auburn's offense in its 40-17 win against previously unbeaten Georgia.
"It was huge," Slayton said. "I'm really excited right now. I was just happy to get the win, and the fashion in which we did it, it was exciting."
Slayton's touchdown, which was his fourth of the season, came with 4:09 to go in the first half. It was Auburn's first touchdown of the game after the offense settled for field goals on three of its first four possessions, including two stalled trips into the red zone.
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On first-and-10 from the Georgia 42, quarterback Jarrett Stidham dropped back and saw Georgia's safety slide down toward receiver Eli Stove. That opened things up for a downfield shot to Slayton, who reached back to make the catch near the goal line before rolling on top of Georgia defensive back Malkom Parrish and into the end zone to make it 16-7 Auburn.
After two straight screens and a pass to the flat, Stidham said Auburn "set it up perfectly" for the deep strike to Slayton.
"I thought it had a shot," Stidham said. "Obviously when I let go of it, anything could really happen. I was just hoping Darius would make a play, and he did."
Slayton, who rolled his ankle in the first quarter before returning to the game, finished with two receptions for 43 yards, but the touchdown was a memorable moment for the redshirt sophomore, who flipped his commitment from Georgia to Auburn on the eve of National Signing Day in 2015. Slayton has since emerged as Auburn's premier deep-play threat this season.
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He now has 15 receptions for 444 yards and four touchdowns while averaging 29.6 yards per reception.
"He wasn't 100 percent the way he finished, but he made a play down there when he rolled into the end zone," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "He's made explosive plays for us when he's been healthy, and he's starting to come on. He can really run."
Slayton's touchdown kickstarted Auburn's offense, and it was one of three long touchdown passes for Auburn against a Georgia defense that allowed just seven passes of at least 30 yards entering the game. The Tigers scored on five of their next eight drives as they pulled away from the Bulldogs.
"On the touchdown to Darius is when I kind of settled in," Stidham said. "I felt like that was a really big momentum play for us. I think after that, everything really just started clicking and we were kind of doing whatever we wanted to do offensively, running a lot of different plays, giving them a lot of different looks. So I think that was the big momentum play for us."
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
from Auburn Sports Impact http://bit.ly/2zDcS6B
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