Auburn 27, Georgia 24. The last kick changes the top of the conversation.

Alex McPherson's 34-yard field goal as time expired gave Auburn a 27-24 win over No. 1 Georgia in Athens on Saturday. The final play will be remembered first. It was possible because Auburn kept a bad beginning from becoming the entire afternoon.

The Tigers trailed 14-0, scored 24 consecutive points and then watched Georgia tie the game with 2:58 remaining. That is not a straight line from comeback to victory. Auburn had to recover from the early deficit and find another answer after its own ten-point advantage disappeared.

The recovery before the celebration

Jeff Shearer's official Auburn recap identifies the late turnover: Cody Sigler forced Gunner Stockton's fumble, and Sylvester Smith-Reed recovered at Auburn's 44. The Tigers reached Georgia's 19 before McPherson's winning kick. A takeaway changed field position and possession at the moment the game had the least time left to absorb either.

Byrum Brown finished with 115 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as 150 passing yards and a passing score, according to Auburn. His five-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter had made it 24-14. The quarterback's work on the ground belongs beside the kicker's finish, not in the footnotes beneath it.

Georgia's countercase is on the scoreboard too. The Bulldogs erased that third-quarter deficit and had the ball again in a tie game. Calling the result an upset does not require pretending the top-ranked team offered no resistance. It requires explaining why that resistance was not enough.

A result, not a playoff verdict

Our read: Auburn earned a national result through repeated recoveries, not one borrowed moment of good fortune at the end. Brown helped build the lead; Georgia removed it; the defense created the final chance; McPherson converted it. The last kick completed the work rather than replacing it.

Georgia is 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the SEC, its official postgame notes confirm. Saturday ends its unbeaten season. It does not, on its own, announce the next AP ranking, settle the conference race or eliminate a team from the College Football Playoff. Those are separate decisions and outcomes. Auburn's achievement is substantial enough without borrowing certainty from games still to come.