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ATHENS, Georgia (Ticker) -- It was another successful trip "between the hedges" for Auburn. Ben Leard tied a school-record with four touchdown passes -- all in the first half -- as the Tigers stormed to a 31-point lead at intermission and crushed No. 16 Georgia, 38-21, in a Southeastern Conference affair. It was the Tigers' seventh win in their last eight trips to Athens and they improved to 16-8 all-time here. Georgia was the last home team to win in the series in 1991 and the visitors are 7-0-1 since. "That was the best game we've played all year," said Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville. "We have a lot of players back from injury, and I think we showed what we're capable of doing. I am proud of this team's progress." Georgia (6-3, 4-3 SEC East) and Auburn (5-5, 2-5) have played every year since 1898, with the exception of 1917, 1918 and 1943, all due to world wars. The Tigers hold a 49-46-8 lead in the series, which began in 1892. The 17-point victory was the Tigers' biggest over the Bulldogs since their 33-10 home triumph in 1990. "We practiced really hard and there's no explanation for the way we played," Bulldogs coach Jim Donnan said. "We thought we were ready. All the responsibility falls on me. Auburn played extremely well and we didn't." Leard, a native of Hartwell, Georgia who grew up with dreams of playing in Sanford Stadium, threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter and twice hooked up with Ronney Daniels on scores in the second period. "Everything seemed to come together for us offensively tonight," said Leard. "I couldn't have had the success I did without the effort of my teammates tonight." He completed an efficient 24-of-32 passes for 416 yards without an interception. Daniels caught nine passes for a career-high 249 yards. "It was a pretty good game, but it could have been better," said Daniels. "(Georgia) thought they could play me man-to-man, but I was able to make some plays. Ben is a great quarterback and reads defenses well and is able to make the plays." Dameyune Craig, Reggie Slack, Pat Sullivan and Loran Carter all have thrown four touchdowns in a game for Auburn. Sullivan did it three times, including against the Bulldogs on November 13, 1971. Leard's first scoring pass came 6:05 into the contest and went four yards to Clifton Robinson. A little over seven minutes later, he found Markeith Cooper for an 11-yard score. Daniels became the receiver of choice in the second quarter, catching scoring passes of 59 and 78 yards in a 6:34 span, the second coming with 6:09 left in the period and making it 28-0. Damon Duval booted a 17-yard field goal at the gun to account for the halftime margin. "This was our best half of defense all year," said Tuberville. "To hold an offense like that scoreless is amazing and it's a credit to our offensive unit that they were able to do so." Any chance the Bulldogs had of a comeback ended 4:03 in the second half, when Leard sneaked into the end zone from one-yard out to make it 38-0. Georgia put up a fight, however, thanks to Quincy Carter, who threw touchdown passes of 40 and 29 yards to freshman Terrence Edwards and ran for a one-yard score with 6:48 to play. Carter was 26-of-37 for 319 yards and was sacked four times. Edwards totaled 151 yards on eight receptions. Edwards, the younger brother of former Bulldogs tailback Robert Edwards, set a school freshman record for receptions. He has 43, eclipsing the old mark of 36 by Lindsay Scott. "We didn't execute tonight," Georgia flanker Michael Greer said. "You have to give them credit. They did what they had to do to win tonight. I think we settled down a bit (in the second half), and we started to make plays but it was too late to make it up."
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