AP photo by John Bazemore Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox (12) scrambles as teammate Chaz Ramsey attempts to block Georgia’s Geno Atkins (56) during the first quarter of the Bulldogs’ 45-20 win in Athens, Ga., on Saturday.

Brandon Cox miserable against Georgia, again

ATHENS, Ga. — This was supposed to be payback, redemption.

Instead, it was a flashback, a replay.

Auburn quarterback Brandon Cox remembers that sickening feeling a year ago when he walked off Pat Dye Field after one of the worst performances in his three-year starting career at Auburn.

That memory flashed in his mind about 6 p.m. Saturday when he walked out of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium after having another dismal performance against the Bulldogs.

“It was another tough one,” Cox said following No. 18 Auburn’s 45-20 loss to No. 10 Georgia. “We seem to have them every year.”

Last season, Cox threw four interceptions in an embarrassing 37-15 loss at home to Georgia. This year, Cox threw another four interceptions in an even more shameful loss.

The senior said earlier in the week that he wanted “payback” for a loss last season that cost Auburn a spot in a BCS bowl, that took the Tigers out of the SEC championship race, that crushed and embarrassed everyone on the Auburn staff.

Although it’s been almost 12 months, little has changed.

The loss to Georgia mathematically eliminated the Tigers from the SEC championship race. The slim possibility of getting into a BCS bowl is now swept away. Georgia again left Auburn’s coaches and players feeling belittled.

“They’ve got our number pretty good,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. “This is two years in a row we haven’t played very good on defense against these guys.”

Offense or defense, Auburn failed to get it done. The defense allowed huge plays and the running game never could get going.

Cox has had three four-interception games in his career: against Georgia Tech in 2005, against Georgia in 2006 and, now, against the Bulldogs again.

“It’s pretty much the same,” Cox said after being asked to compare the two games. “We played better, I think, this year, but the same result.”

Decatur High grad Jerraud Powers felt the same way — that Auburn played the Bulldogs better this season but lost by a larger margin and gave up more points than it has in any game since 1996.

But Powers, hunched over in a chair in the Georgia locker room, said the most recent loss is worse.

“This one hurts because it was the next one,” Powers said. “We got to bounce back just like we were doing all season and get ready for Alabama.”

And that presents another problem: bounding back. Auburn has a bye week next weekend and then hosts the biggest game of the year: Alabama on Nov. 24.

Will the Tigers be able to forget the sting of this embarrassing loss and get up for the Iron Bowl? It was a question presented to many of the players after the game.

They all, of course, seem to think it won’t be a difficult task.

“Each week, we play with a lot of intensity,” said starting running back Brad Lester, who had 45 yards on 16 carries. “We have a lot of focus during the week.”

Tuberville plans to give the team a couple of days off before going into full swing practice mode Tuesday, preparing for the Crimson Tide. Alabama faces Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.

“The Iron Bowl’s always big — just like this one. This one’s big. We’d hoped to have played better in this one,” Tuberville said. “We’ve got to come back and bounce back. That’s what you’ve got to do in sports — in anything in life.”

The two teams likely will enter the Iron Bowl with identical 7-4 records. They will likely be playing for the better bowl game.

The bowl choices range from the winner possibly going to the Chik-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta to the loser heading to Shreveport, La., for the Independence Bowl.

When asked when the focus will shift to Alabama, defensive end Antonio Coleman said, “It’s already turned to Bama.”