ATHENS — Opposing coaches Kirby Smart and Hugh Freeze each insisted this week that there’s more love and less hate surrounding the Auburn-Georgia rivalry. “Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry” is the name assigned to the 131-year-old football series, which will be renewed for the 128th time Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
That may or may not be the case, depending on what happens to the streaks the No. 1-ranked and two-time defending national champion Bulldogs carry into the SEC’s national game of the week (3:30 p.m., CBS).
Either Georgia (4-0, 1-0 SEC) will come out with a school-record 32nd consecutive regular-season victory – and seventh consecutive win over the Tigers (3-1, 0-1) – or the Bulldogs will return to Athens with their first loss conference loss of any kind since the 2021 SEC Championship game. Whatever the case, UGA knows it will get Auburn’s best shot Saturday.
“It’s a great atmosphere. Auburn does an incredible job with their stadium and their fan base,” Smart said. “The atmosphere they create in every game I’ve ever played there has never disappointed.”
Smart would know. He has played and coached in Jordan-Hare Stadium more than any venue not named Sanford Stadium. He’s 7-4 all time on The Plains. He was 2-0 as a Georgia player, 0-1 as an LSU assistant, did not coach there his only year as a UGA assistant (2005) and 3-2 in the Iron Bowl as an Alabama assistant. Smart is 2-1 there as Georgia’s head coach, having lost 40-17 in the 2017 regular season and won in the past two trips.
The Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight overall against Auburn with Smart calling the shots. They, of course, avenged that 2017 loss by defeating the Tigers two weeks later in the SEC Championship game.
Here are five other things to know about Georgia-Auburn:
Freeze warning
Freeze will experience the South’s oldest rivalry for the first time Saturday. His very presence on the home team’s sideline is in part because of Georgia’s recent domination of the series.
The Bulldogs have won six in a row against the Tigers, and the contests mostly haven’t been close. Georgia’s margin of victory during that stretch is 20.3 points. The one that was decided by a single score in 2019 at Auburn stood at 21-0 well into the fourth quarter.
Bryan Harsin was fired as Auburn’s coach on Halloween of last year. Freeze was hired a month later and awarded a six-year, $39 million contract.
Freeze came from Liberty, where he went 34-15 in four seasons. But he played Georgia twice as the head coach at Ole Miss, losing 37-10 in Athens in 2012 and beating Smart head-to-head 45-14 in Oxford in 2016. That was Smart’s first season as a head coach.
Freeze was fired by the Rebels in July 2017 amid personal and professional scandal. He did not coach the next two seasons.
SEC road ‘Beck-ons’
Saturday on the Plains represents Georgia’s first game away from Sanford Stadium this season. The Bulldogs originally were scheduled to play Oklahoma in Norman in Week 2, but were forced by the SEC to cancel the game after the Sooners and Texas joined the conference. Georgia filled in the blank with Ball State and has won its first four games by an average margin of 30.3 points.
That means this will be quarterback Carson Beck’s first SEC road game as Georgia’s starter. Finally becoming QB1 in Year 4, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound junior has done solid work at home. He arrives at Auburn with the Bulldogs averaging 41.5 points and 496.5 yards per game while he is completing 72.7% of his passes for 1,184 yards, six touchdowns and one interception. Beck also has rushed for two scores.
He said he’s ready.
“Obviously every game is exciting, but to go on the road in the SEC and into an environment like that is super exciting, especially the first time,” Beck told Aaron Murray in an interview on The Players Lounge this week.
Beck has the full confidence of his coaches and teammates.
“That kid is wired the right way,” Smart said. “He’s not a real emotional, up-and-down kid. … (But) it’s not all on Carson; it’s on those 10 other guys on offense to help him.”
Starting fast
Both the Bulldogs and Auburn will look to get off to a fast start. Neither has done that to date.
Georgia is averaging only 4.5 points in the first quarter this season. The Tigers have scored 10 points in the first quarter all season (2.5 ppg).
The Bulldogs’ early doldrums were particularly concerning in their only other SEC game. Georgia trailed South Carolina 14-3 at halftime Sept. 16 in Athens. But that was more of a function of red-zone failures than it was an inability to move the football. The Bulldogs had 13- and 15-play drives in the first quarter, but came away with only three points.
The flip side of that is Georgia has scored 118 of its points this season – or 71% – in the second and third quarters. The Bulldogs are beating opponents 56-0 in the third quarter alone.
Georgia’s red-zone scoring improved dramatically against Alabama-Birmingham. The Bulldogs went 6-for-6 on Saturday, with six touchdowns.
“Hopefully we can put a whole game together and come out the way we did in the second half against South Carolina,” Beck said.
End zone off limits
Georgia’s red-zone issues haven’t been limited to the offense. The Bulldogs’ defense has been inordinately vulnerable in that area. Opponents are 6-of-8 scoring touchdowns in the red zone this season. That’s the second worst rate in the SEC.
Georgia looked especially vulnerable at the end of halves against two-minute offenses in the past two games. Both UAB and South Carolina drove the length of the field to score touchdowns against the Bulldogs with a minute or less remaining. Smart even called a timeout Saturday with 1:12 left in the half to implore Georgia’s defensive troops not to let the Blazers score. They reached the end zone with eight seconds to spare.
The breakdown, junior linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson said, primarily has been communication.
“Communication is everything,” he said. “Once we get dialed in on that, you know, I expect our defense to go to a whole different level.”
They won’t be facing a very explosive offense. Payton Thorne won Auburn’s quarterback job in the preseason after transferring from Michigan State. The Tigers are averaging only 32 points per game while committing nine turnovers (4 fumbles, 5 interceptions) and allowing 12 sacks. Sophomore Robby Ashford has played in all four games, and Auburn went to a third quarterback in freshman Holden Geriner when the offense struggled badly in a 27-10 loss at Texas A&M last week.
Game-day decisions
A Georgia team at full strength would appear too much for Auburn to overcome. The Bulldogs won’t be, however, and certain players’ availability Saturday could be a determining factor.
Topping that list is Ladd McConkey. The junior flanker is expected to travel despite missing every game this season with a back ailment. He practiced this week for the first time in two weeks.
Likewise, the Bulldogs are hopeful to get back starting safety Javon Bullard and defensive end Mykel Williams. Bullard missed the past two games with a sprained ankle, and Williams was sick for Saturday’s game. Backup running back Roderick Robinson (ankle) will miss the game, but senior Kendall Milton is expected to return after sitting out with an MCL sprain.
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