A pair of white cowboy boots sat leaned up against the wall between the field and Auburn’s student section as a college-aged girl sat facing the field, legs hanging off the wall.

She and the rest of Auburn’s student section were prepared to clear whatever obstacle sat in their way en route to midfield – even if it meant abandoning their shoes and sprinting across Pat Dye Field in their socks.

Meanwhile, an army of security people in turquoise polo shirts stood in front of the student section, bracing for the possibility that Auburn’s offense answered Georgia’s late touchdown, found a way to win the ball game and sent the No. 1 team in the country back to Athens with its first loss of the season.

The protocol if the Tigers pulled it all off?

Get the Kirby Smart and Bulldogs safely off the field and get out of the way of everyone else trying to get on the field.

But despite the plans in place, Carson Beck found Brock Bowers on a 40-yard touchdown to give Georgia a late seven-point lead and Payton Thorne’s pass on 4th and 9 found the hands of Georgia’s Malaki Starks instead of Auburn’s Jay Fair.

It was the first and only turnover the Tigers committed against the Bulldogs, but it was the one that put the game on ice, sealing Auburn’s 27-20 loss to No. 1 Georgia on Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“You have a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country — back-to-back national champions — at home. The feeling that you get if you can pull that off is just ecstatic,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said. “But it hurts, and it’s disappointing that we didn’t find a way to get it done today.”

Auburn was the first to light up the scoreboard Saturday afternoon, courtesy of a 27-yard field goal off the foot of Alex McPherson.

And the Tigers didn’t trail until a little into the fourth quarter, when Georgia took a 20-17 lead with just less than 11 minutes to play. But even then, Auburn didn’t waver as it answered the call with a 51-yard drive that ended with a game-tying 42-yard field goal from McPherson.

But Bowers, Georgia’s all-American tight end who was held to just one catch for three yards in the first half, gave the Auburn defense fits down the stretch.

In the fourth quarter alone, Bowers hauled in four catches for 121 yards and the go-ahead touchdown.

“I think we did pretty good on assignment and alignment,” said Auburn corner Zion Puckett. “I think once you get farther down in the game people get fatigued and miscommunication… I think is what happened for us in that second half.”

Auburn outgained Georgia 173 yards to 143 yards in the first half.

Come the second half, however, the Bulldogs found their stride and put up 275 yards of offense, while the Tigers mustered just 134 yards.

Yet despite the lopsided offensive numbers in the second half, Auburn never fell out of position to pull the upset.

And though Auburn still has plenty to do before it can say it’s found its identity, taking Georgia to the buzzer on Saturday was a good starting point.

“Our identity is we play hard for 60 minutes. That has to start there. It has to start there,” Freeze said. “We’re going to play physical and hard and compete for 60 minutes. I think our kids did that.”

Issues spurned Auburn in Saturday’s loss.

The Tigers’ offense was just 2-for-12 on third downs, while the Bulldogs’ offense converted eight of their 13 third downs.

“I think you look back at this game, you look at third downs,” Freeze said. “You look at our third-down offense and you look at our third-down defense, and I think that’s where the game was lost for us.”

If the Auburn football program has a place for morale victories, there were plenty to be found Saturday night.

The Tigers’ defense forced a pair of turnovers courtesy of a Jaylin Simpson interception and a Marcus Harris forced fumble, which went on to be picked up by Jalen McLeod. But more importantly, the Auburn offense went on to score touchdowns on both those turnovers – something it’s struggled to do so far this season.

Auburn also leaned on the run game – a move that was likely wise of them considering the team’s passing struggles. The Tigers tallied 219 rushing yards and two touchdowns while averaging just more than five yards per carry.

And up until Thorne’s interception on Auburn’s final offensive play of the game, the Tigers took care of the football – another notable shift relative to last week’s game against Texas A&M.

“Coming off a road loss where we did not play particularly well, I felt they had a great week of practice, a great week of prep,” Freeze said. “Hopefully what’s revealed from that is they see that they can go toe to toe with some of the nation’s best. Because we’ve got some more of those coming.”

But perhaps the most encouraging sign for Freeze after Auburn’s loss on Saturday?

It hurt. It hurt bad.

Auburn veteran tight end Luke Deal didn’t play much of an on-field factor in Saturday’s game. But after Freeze said he was the most positive voice on Auburn’s sputtering offense, you can bet Deal played a huge factor in Saturday’s game from a leadership perspective.

On the Monday prior to Auburn’s massive opportunity against No. 1 Georgia, Deal struggled to express what beating the Bulldogs would mean considering he’d never done it before during his time on The Plains.

Following Auburn’s narrow loss to Georgia, Deal was slow to leave Pat Dye Field as he knew he wouldn’t have another chance to down the ‘Dogs.

In the minutes following the game, Auburn linebacker Eugene Asante — who has been the Tigers’ loud and jovial voice all season – spoke to the media with a somber tone and little eye contact.

Even Freeze took his postgame questions with misty eyes.

“I’m glad to see it bothers us. It stings,” Freeze said. It’ll be a restless night for me, I’m sure. But I’m also, at the same time, very proud of them. I thought they fought and fought them for 60 minutes.

“I thought we had a chance there at the end.”

And so did everyone else.

But at the end of the day, the white cowboy boots were put back on and those wearing turquoise shirts has an easier night of work than maybe they hoped they would.