ATHENS, Ga. — There were cheers followed by silence followed by elation.
Georgia safety Bacarri Rambo broke up a Chris Todd pass at the 2-yard line with 1:16 remaining in the game, then remained motionless on the field for nearly 15 minutes. The crowd sat silent, occasionally rising to chant his name. When he was carted off the field, Rambo raised his arm, a signal to the crowd to rise again, and the Bulldogs’ defense followed suit.
Georgia sacked Todd on third-and-11 and his final heave on fourth down was broken up in the end zone by Bryan Evans and Brandon Boykin to preserve a 31-24 comeback win for the Bulldogs, who have defeated Auburn four straight times.
“It’s tough because you don’t want to see a player go down, but we knew we had to win it for him,” senior defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. “That’s what he said out there. He said to just win it for him. He sacrificed his body on that play, so we knew we had to sacrifice for him also.”
Rambo’s play thwarted a potential touchdown, but it was his courage that sparked the defense’s final rally.
Linebacker Rennie Curran and several other Bulldogs stood about three feet from Rambo’s motionless body shouting words of encouragement and offering support. After a seemingly endless delay that was broken up only by the chants of “Rambo, Rambo” from the crowd, the freshman safety raised his hand and told his teammates to finish what he started.
“They got him up on the cart, and he started talking to us,” Curran said. “We just let him know he didn’t have anything to worry about it. We were going to win it for him.”
After the game, head coach Mark Richt said Rambo was able to move his arms and legs and did not appear to have any serious long-term injuries, but he was knocked unconscious on the field by the play.
The long layoff left Auburn time to draw up its plans for a third-and-11 play from Georgia 23, trailing by seven, and it left Bulldogs defensive coordinator Willie Martinez enough time to spark his troops.
“They love Bacarri a lot,” Martinez said. “I said a couple of choice words, that I’m sure Bacarri doesn’t want us to let these guys score, and he laid it on the line for us. They were ready to play.”
Todd, who finished the game 20-of-28 for 238 yards and two touchdowns, was sacked by Cornelius Washington for a loss of 7. Auburn followed with two timeouts then drew up a pass play to Mario Fannin in the end zone that Boykin read from the start.
“I knew they were going to throw him the ball, and I was just trying to focus on batting it away,” said Boykin, Rambo’s roommate and close friend. “I managed to get a hand on it, but he still tried to make a play on the ball. Bryan came over and got a hit on him, and I felt great when I saw the ball hit the ground and everybody started cheering.”
The win didn’t come easily, even before Rambo’s injury.
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