Bryan Harsin thought Auburn had “the look” to pull off an early, momentum-shifting gamble against rival Georgia. The Tigers just couldn’t finish the execution.

Facing fourth-and-6 late in the first quarter of a scoreless affair between the hedges, Auburn tried to ignite its woeful offense with a fake punt attempt in its own territory. The Tigers snapped the ball to tight end John Samuel Shenker, who was lined up as an up-back in the punt formation, and he tried to take off up the middle to pick up the first down.

Instead, he was stopped 2 yards shy of the line to gain, gifting Georgia a short field at the end of the first quarter.

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“That was the look, too,” Harsin said after the game. “…That was something we felt like was going to be the right opportunity… but absolutely (we did it) to try to create a spark to continue the drive.”

There was no spark for Auburn in the latest rendition of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Rather, things went haywire after the failed fake. Georgia made the most of the short field, scoring the first of six rushing touchdowns after the change of possession as the Bulldogs marched toward a 42-10 win.

The decision to attempt the fake punt, from Auburn’s own 34-yard line no less, was a peculiar one on the surface, but it’s one Harsin justified and stood by after the game. According to the second-year coach, Auburn recognized the look earlier this season from film against one of its other opponents and saw it again during its first punt attempt Saturday against Georgia. So, when the Bulldogs presented that setup again late in the first quarter, the Tigers believed the opportunity was there to take advantage in what was to that point a defensive struggle.

Prior to the fake, the two teams combined for five punts and a missed field goal in the first quarter of a scoreless game.

“We knew tonight was going to be a challenge offensively with their defense,” Harsin said. “So, any positive yards we could get and extension of drives, that was a chance for us to do that, in that field position as well, because they weren’t going to be in safe; they were going to give us a chance with that look, and they did give us the look. They out-executed us in that moment right there, but overall I thought we had a good design for that opportunity.”

Once Auburn recognized Georgia’s punt coverage formation, the entire punt unit checked to the sidelines before snapping the ball. Shenker received the short snap and veered up the middle of the field. It appeared that Jalil Irvin, who flanked Shenker to the left of the formation in protection, missed his block on Georgia’s Nolan Smith, who was able to get free and tackle Shenker before he could pick up the requisite yardage or turn it into a bigger play. Luke Deal, who was lined up to Shenker’s right, tried to pick up Smith after he shed Irvin’s block, but the tight end couldn’t get there before Smith got to Shenker.

“We got the look we wanted,” Shenker said. “There were a few errors in the blocking scheme, and I wasn’t able to get through. It was a good play call, and they had the right defense out. We just weren’t able to execute it.”

The failed gambit gifted Georgia the short field, and the defending national champion capitalized, seizing control of the game in the process. It was the inflection point of the game, leading to the first of two touchdowns off short fields for the Bulldogs in the first half, as they turned an early defensive struggle into another convincing win in the rivalry.

“That’s just the operation of the game,” edge Derick Hall said. “We really don’t care where they start with the ball. We just try to defend every blade of grass. It doesn’t matter what kind of field position we’ve got. We just try to defend every blade of grass.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.