Auburn gets tipped 73-yard TD pass to scuttle Georgia rally

AUBURN, Ala. -- Ricardo Louis scored on a deflected 73-yard pass on fourth-and-18 with 25 seconds left to lift Auburn, No. 7 in BCS rankings, to a stunning 43-38 victory over No. 25 Georgia last night.

The Tigers (10-1, 6-1 SEC) had blown a 27-7 lead but pulled out one more huge play to continue the biggest turnaround in major-college football. From 3-9 last year, they can win the SEC West with a victory in two weeks against No. 1 Alabama.

Auburn's Nick Marshall heaved the ball downfield with two defenders around Louis. It bounced off safety Tray Matthews and Louis reached out his left hand to corral it.

Aaron Murray, who had engineered the comeback with three fourth-quarter touchdowns, then led Georgia (6-4, 4-3) to Auburn's 20 but his final two passes fell incomplete as time ran out. Dee Ford hit him on the last pass as Murray ran toward the line before trying to throw.

The Bulldogs had taken a 38-37 lead when Murray plowed into Ryan Smith at the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown with 1:49 left.

Auburn challenged that TD, but replay officials upheld the call on the field.

That left the Tigers starting at their own 22 with 1:45 left. They managed one first down but Jordan Jenkins sacked Marshall to set up fourth-and-18.

Marshall then produced the biggest play of his career against the Bulldogs, where he played as a freshman defensive back. He was dismissed from the team in February 2012 for violating team rules and returned to the SEC after a season in junior college.

He finished 15-for-26 passing for 229 yards and ran 19 times for 89 yards.

The Tigers ran for 323 yards against a defense that came in giving up 126 yards a game on the ground, 20th nationally. At one point, Auburn had outgained Georgia 170-4.-- AP