In 2007, Auburn came to Sanford Stadium, amidst a sea of black.
Georgia came out for warmups in their usual red jerseys, only to come out of the tunnel in black, igniting the already-raucous crowd.

The game would fuel Georgia’s season and a subsequent preseason No. 1 ranking, and helped mark the beginning of the end of the Tommy Tuberville era.

The Tigers are back. Here’s a look at the programs’ paths since then.

GEORGIA
 Rolling after a win over Florida and the blackout victory over Auburn, the Bulldogs wrapped up their 2007 season by dominating Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.

Georgia would be ranked No. 2 in the country in the final Associated Press poll.

 The Bulldogs were rewarded for their strong season-ending run, garnering a 2008 preseason No. 1 ranking.

 Trying to find some of that old black magic, the Bulldogs blacked out Sanford Stadium for their date with Alabama, but with disastrously opposite affect.

The Tide rolled to a 41-30 win, beginning the start of the 2008 downslide for Georgia. The Bulldogs would finish the season 10-3 with a Capital One Bowl win.

 Matthew Stafford (No. 1 overall pick) and Knowshon Moreno (No. 12 overall pick) left school early for the NFL draft, leaving question marks at Georgia’s key skill positions.

 The Bulldogs began their 2009 season with a loss to then-top 10 Oklahoma State, and things wouldn’t get a whole lot better.

The Georgia defense would continue to struggle and, without Stafford and Moreno, the offense continues to search for consistency at 5-4.

AUBURN
 The Tigers would finish the 2007 season with a 17-10 win over archrival Alabama in the Iron Bowl, then in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl over Clemson.

 The true beginning of the end for long-time coach Tommy Tuberville would begin Sept. 20, 2008, a loss to LSU.

After beating Tennessee, the Tigers would rattle of four straight losses (three in the SEC), then drop their final two games to Georgia and Alabama. They would finish 5-7 and out of bowl eligibility.

 After 10 years as the head man in Auburn, Tuberville “resigned” on Dec. 3, 2008. He was 85-40 all-time at the school, the fourth-most wins ever for a Tiger head coach. He had led the Tigers to an undefeated 13-0 season just four years prior.

 Amid controversy of all sorts, former Auburn defensive coordinator Gene Chizik was named the Tigers’ new head coach less than two weeks later. Chizik was more recently off a 5-19 stretch in two years as Iowa State’s head coach.

 Under offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn’s leadership, the Tigers got off to a high-flying start in 2009, scoring at least 37 points in their first four games.

But after three straight mid-season losses to Arkansas, Kentucky and LSU, they now sit at 6-3.