Have you decorated for Halloween yet? If not, you might see some ghosts and goblins on Saturday night in The Plains. There will be plenty of tricks and treats to get us ready for October football. We have a night game at Jordan Hare (trick) hosting the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry (treat). Let’s get you ready for Georgia vs. Auburn by hearing from Kirby Smart and Georgia this week.
Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry: Georgia vs. Auburn
Opponent: Auburn
History: Georgia has won eight straight and leads the series 65-56-8.
Last meeting: Georgia defeated Auburn 31-13 last year in Athens.
Date and Time: Saturday, Oct. 11th | 7:30 PM EST
Location: Jordan Hare Stadium
Television: ABC
Spread: #GoDawgs -3.5
What should we expect from Auburn?
Jordan Hare is a special place in the SEC. As much as Georgia needs to prepare for Auburn on the field, the team must also get its mind right for the environment. Smart talked about the challenges and opportunities of playing at Jordan Hare. “What an atmosphere and opportunity to play a night game at their place. They’ve got an incredible atmosphere, which is starting to be the common theme around our conference.” Smart said at his weekly press conference. “This place is really hard to play. They do an unbelievable job with whatever you call the game interaction, the crowd, the fans, their students. What about the team on the field?
Run the damn ball, Hugh. Auburn fans are losing their mind over Freeze’s inability to call run plays for the team. Jackson Arnold and the Tigers got off to a fast start to the season by running all over Baylor. Since that time, the Auburn offense has had lots of problems. Arnold was sacked ten times in an opening conference loss to Oklahoma. The offense failed to muster 200 yards in a loss two weeks ago in College Station. This is not what Auburn signed up for when they passed on Lane Kiffin and brought in Freeze three years ago. Another poor performance could have the Tigers looking for yet another head ball coach in December.
What should we expect from Georgia’s offense?
Georgia’s offense was humming against Kentucky. Sure, Gunner Stockton threw his first interception, but he also ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. The rushing offense has returned to the Dawgs, and they will need it for Auburn. Auburn boasts a very good defensive line that can get after the passer; however, they have shown a tendency to give up big plays and rushing yards on the ground. They gave up over 200 yards two weeks ago in College Station. The ability for Georgia to consistently stay on or ahead of schedule with the run game will give Stockton more opportunities to throw and continue to make big plays down the field.
What should we expect from Georgia’s defense?
Despite Auburn’s struggles, Georgia has not exactly dominated on defense. Despite a nice bounce-back win against Kentucky last week on Homecoming, the Dawgs have shown to be less than elite in trying to defend the run or pass.
Auburn has two elite receivers in Cam Coleman and Eric Singleton Jr. If Arnold can get time, both could hurt the Dawgs for big plays. Smart shared the key will be Georgia’s secondary being physical with the Auburn receivers. “If you want to cover somebody, you’ve got to put your hands on them. You’ve got to affect the timing of a route. If you’re going to be up on somebody, there’s not a lot of purpose in being there if you aren’t using your hands.” Smart said. “And the advantage in college football over the NFL is, you know, you can touch them past five yards. So you have to try to use that advantage and knock people, you know, off their route as you cover them.”
Who wins Georgia vs. Auburn?
Smart sought to bring chaos to help the Dawgs prepare for Saturday night. “It’s not what makes it hard at Jordan-Hare [Stadium]. What makes it hard anytime you go on the road. It’s an intense, crazy environment.” Smart said. “The night games are more so than the day games in terms of that atmosphere that’s created, but we practice in that. We create an environment of chaos and noise and try to create confusion and do things so that we have to communicate in that, so our guys get to practice in it. We’ll have to go out and execute.” Look for another high-scoring game like we saw earlier this season in Knoxville.
Georgia 34
Auburn 17
Main Image: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
