Referred to as “the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry,” the annual Georgia-Auburn game has been heavily one-sided for the better part of a decade.
No. 10 Georgia will look to extend its dominance over host Auburn on Saturday night in Southeastern Conference play.
Georgia (4-1, 2-1) climbed two spots in the latest AP Top 25 rankings after posting a 35-14 victory over outmatched Kentucky last week. The Bulldogs are favored again this week as they search of their ninth straight win against the Tigers.
After Georgia was outscored by a combined first-quarter score of 28-7 in its first two SEC games against Tennessee and Alabama, Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart put an emphasis on starting fast. The Bulldogs won the opening quarter 14-0 against Kentucky — a trend Smart would love to replicate.
“Do we want to start fast? Yes. What made us start fast? I can’t give you an answer to that,” Smart said. “We didn’t take a pill. We didn’t inject anything. We didn’t have a different pregame meal. We go out to execute every game.”
Six of Georgia’s eight consecutive wins in the series have come by double figures, but Smart knows his team will get Auburn’s best shot.
“They’ve got a great football team,” Smart said of the Tigers. “They’ve played two really, really hard road games against two of the premier teams in our league. They’re playing really good defensively. Got a lot of weapons on offense, got a lot of great skill players, a lot of great players on special teams. Always respect Coach (Hugh) Freeze’s teams.”
Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton has been held under 200 passing yards in each of his last two games, but his five rushing scores are tied for the most by an SEC quarterback.
Auburn (3-2, 0-2) will have had two weeks to prepare for its rival after suffering a close loss, 16-10, to then-No. 9 Texas A&M on Sept. 27. The Tigers’ two losses, to Oklahoma and the Aggies, have come by a combined 13 points.
“Nobody wants to hear, nor do I, that we’re close,” Freeze said. “We’ve got to get over the hump in some of these games. … Everything is still in front of us, and it starts with an incredible rivalry game that you ought to just relish the opportunity to play in, and get to do it at home.”
The Tigers last beat Georgia in November 2017. Freeze’s Ole Miss team crushed Georgia 45-14 in Smart’s first season in 2016.
“I have played Kirby a long time, and if you hurt them with a play, you can be assured that they’ll have an answer for it the next time,” Freeze said. “They’ll have some kind of twist, obviously, that we haven’t seen that will be prepared for us, and they’ve certainly put themselves in the position to win most of their games.”
Quarterback Jackson Arnold has thrown and run for five touchdowns apiece through five games in an Auburn uniform and has yet to throw his first interception.
Freeze knows the importance of holding on to the ball, but he’d like to see the Oklahoma transfer take a few chances.
“He’s done an incredible job of taking care of the football,” Freeze said of Arnold. “Truthfully, I’d love for him to be a little freer, particularly with the playmakers that we have. He probably would be if we could hold up just another half-second.”