AUBURN, Ala. — Practice makes better.

A week after making Kentucky quarterback Randall Cobb look more like Randall Cunningham, the Georgia Bulldogs were much more efficient defensively during their 17-13 win Saturday at Auburn. Georgia let Auburn quarterback Kodi Burns get loose on occasion, but Burns netted just 28 yards on 14 carries.

In last week’s 42-38 shootout win in Lexington, the Bulldogs allowed Cobb to rush 18 times for 82 yards and three touchdowns.

“When somebody runs the same stuff the following week, it helps a lot because you’ve got repetition,” Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said. “Things you did well you can repeat, and things you didn’t do so well you don’t repeat. The thing about defense is it’s not so much what are they doing each week. It’s what happened to you the previous week, because you’re probably going to get it.

“You get so many copycat plays, it’s mind-boggling.”

Georgia players believe they were more prepared to handle Burns after facing Cobb.

“It most definitely helped, because we knew what to expect,” middle linebacker Dannell Ellerbe said. “When you face a running quarterback, you’ve got to get off blocks. That’s what we practiced this week, getting off blocks, and it showed.”

Said weakside linebacker Rennie Curran: “We did a lot better job of keeping things inside and keeping them from getting to that sideline.”

The Bulldogs did give up two huge plays, a 52-yard touchdown pass from Burns to tailback Mario Fannin late in the first quarter and a 35-yard touchdown run by Fannin early in the fourth. Georgia blew coverage on the pass to Fannin, according to Ellerbe, and Fannin’s scoring run came right up the middle and caught the pressuring Bulldogs off guard.

Auburn had just 128 yards through three quarters — the Tigers actually lost 6 yards on 10 third-quarter plays — before amassing 175 in the fourth. Burns gained confidence throwing the ball in the final 15 minutes and mixed in his longest run of 17 yards.

“We played a lot of man (defense) there at the end,” Martinez said. “We put a lot of guys on an island. You’re worried about the quarterback draw and the quarterback run game, so you put those guys on islands. They’ve got to make some plays, and I thought they stepped up.”

The Bulldogs entered Saturday having allowed 38 or more points three straight times for the first time since 1900. That fact was not going to be erased Saturday, but it was not extended to a fourth game.

Auburn’s 13 points marked the fewest against Georgia in Jordan-Hare Stadium since 1992.

“We answered the bell,” Martinez said. “We knew we were going to get their best. We play so many games that the record doesn’t mean anything, and we stressed to our guys this week that not only do we have to play better on defense but that the opponent is going to raise their level because it is Georgia and it is Auburn.

“We played more like a Georgia defense on the scoreboard.”

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