Before Auburn would give the nation’s top-ranked team all it could handle Saturday, it was thought Auburn’s best chance in this game would be to rattle Georgia starting quarterback Carson Beck.

The junior sat behind Stetson Bennett for two years and this season, finally got his turn. That meant Saturday in Auburn, a game he’d go on to win 27-20, was Beck’s first start on the road.

Jordan-Hare Stadium is among the toughest atmospheres a rookie quarterback could face for his first away game.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Beck would have to rely on his ever-present confidence going into the game. Smart praised the overwhelming noise of Jordan-Hare Stadium, and most other SEC stadiums for that matter. He knew it would be a test.

It was, in fact, a test immediately.

Auburn went up 10-0 in the first quarter, including defensive back Jaylin Simpson intercepting a Beck pass. In the raucous atmosphere, the man given the lead of the two-time defending national champions struggled early.

“I’m not used to getting hit,” Beck said. “Shoot, tomorrow will probably be bumps and bruises all over, but that’s football.”

Auburn was both the best defense he’d faced all year by a large margin and the most hostile game he’s ever played. Beck completed seven of 13 passes in the first half for 77 yards along with an interception.

“We were sending a lot of heat at him — and they were trying to run quick game,” Auburn linebacker Jalen McLeod said of Auburn’s pass rush getting after Beck. “That’s not their type of game. We got them out of their element for a little bit.”

This is where many first-time starting quarterbacks would falter. The Auburn crowd was roaring with optimism as the Tigers competed with the nation’s No. 1 team. Auburn was playing with as much emotion and energy as it had all season. It had all the momentum.

But Beck did something most with his level of experience can’t do. He stood tall on third down and remained poised in the second half.

“He just stayed calm and collected the whole time,” Georgia wide receiver Ladd McConkey said. “It’s hard to come into a stadium like this, first road game, and get it done.”

With the weight of more than 88,000 orange-clad Auburn fans bearing down on him, Beck looked like an experienced SEC veteran in the second half. Georgia was 8-13 on third downs and 5-7 in the second half.

Beck led a 98-yard touchdown drive to tie the game in the second half. When the late-game pressure-packed moments arrived, he made smart throws to tight end Brock Bowers.

Georgia never asked him to do too much, but his second-half performance was emblematic of a quarterback who had done this far more than Beck actually had.

“When the going gets hard, we get harder,” Beck said after the win.

Beck finished the game with 313 passing yards and throwing the game-winning score. He completed 70% of his passes against an Auburn defense that had among its best performances — considering the circumstances — of an already impressive season.

“He did awesome,” Bowers said. “Coming to that place, his first start in a super hostile away game. He did the best you could ask for.”

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]