ATHENS — Brice Ramsey didn’t know how many times he punted or his final average.

But one particular stat stood out in his mind Saturday.

Ramsey had 3 punts downed inside the Auburn’s 20 to repeatedly help pin the Tigers in a game where field position was paramount.

“I was excited about that. That was huge,” he said. “I tried to flip the field and tried to make them have a long field to go down.”

Ramsey punted six times for a 33.7-yard average in his first start of the season in place of Marshall Long, who will miss the rest of the season due to a broken kneecap.

Long was injured on what Ramsey, who also is the No. 3 quarterback, called a freak accident in practice, when he landed wrong on his plant leg.

“I didn’t think anything was wrong with him at first,” he said. “It was a funky landing.”

Long’s injury was first reported Saturday morning, but Ramsey had known since the injury that he was going to punt against Auburn.

“Marshall has an awesome leg, obviously, but at the end of the day, when your number’s called, you’ve got to go out and make it happen,” Ramsey said. “That’s what I’m going to try to do the rest of the year.”

Long is 13th in the SEC with a 38.7-yard average and Ramsey replaced him after a poor showing against Florida. Long rebounded with a 41.2-yard average on five punts in Georgia’s victory over Kentucky.

Ramsey’s best punt against Auburn was caught on the fly and downed at the 2-yard line in the second quarter. His next punt was downed at the 9.

He had another opportunity to add to that total in the third quarter, but his worst punt traveled only 23 yards and was downed at Auburn’s 23.

“Obviously I had that shank,” Ramsey said. “Luckily the defense was able to bail me out. We were playing a really good game all around. All three phases. We just made it happen.”

He also finished last season as Georgia’s No. 1 punter and averaged 42.4 yards on 20 attempts, with five inside the 20.

“I’m going to embrace it. I’m excited,” Ramsey said. “Any way I can contribute to this team. I’m here and I’m ready to do it.”