AUBURN UPDATE: New month, same rivalry for Auburn-Georgia
Auburn took care of business in the win over Kentucky last week. Now, the Tigers face an old rival in a new month as Georgia is next on the docket. (Courtesy Auburn Media Relations)
By TIM GAYLE
It’s not even October, but somehow it feels like late November.
That’s because Auburn is playing Georgia, which means there is a lot at stake for both teams this week.
“This is one of the most traditional rivalries in all of college football,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart noted. “I think any time you talk about Georgia or Auburn, they recruit our state hard, there’s a lot of ties between the two universities, always has been. It’s been a big game but I never remember it being Game Two, that’s for sure. So that’s very unique.”
The Deep South’s oldest rivalry has been played 124 times (Georgia holds a slim 60-56 lead with eight ties), but only six times has it not been played in November – once in February (1892), three times in late October, once on Oct. 24 (1936) and once on Oct. 8 (1927).
It was originally scheduled for late October after Southeastern Conference officials made some changes in the schedule, then moved to early October when the schedule was altered again for a 10-game, conference-only schedule.
“This year is so unique,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “It feels exactly as it would in November. We know how important it is. This game usually has a direct effect on the (SEC) East and the West. It doesn’t matter if we’re playing today or in November or in March.”
Saturday’s kickoff will be preceded by the appearance of ESPN College GameDay on the Bulldogs’ campus. Georgia’s home opener will kick off at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs are a 6.5-point favorite.
“You’re looking at a team that’s probably the most talented team overall in the SEC,” Malzahn said. “They are very well coached. You look at them defensively, they’re very sound. They make you earn stuff. They don’t give up a whole lot of big plays. They’ve got most of their defense back that I thought was excellent last year.”
The focal point of the contest will be on Georgia’s quarterback situation, which was a first-half disaster last week at Arkansas and might be bolstered by an appearance from USC transfer J.T. Daniels, who was medically cleared to play this week.
Last week, redshirt freshman D’wan Mathis started and completed just 8 of 17 passes for 55 yards with one interception before he was replaced in the second quarter by junior Stetson Bennett. Bennett completed 20 of 29 passes for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the overmatched Arkansas secondary, but wasn’t particularly impressive, either.
Smart could return to those two, go with true freshman Carson Beck, or turn to Daniels, who completed 241 of 397 passes for 2,887 yards and 15 touchdowns with 11 interceptions in 2018 at USC before missing almost all of 2019 with a knee injury before transferring to Athens.
“We’re going to continue to work with all the guys we’ve got, to put the best guy in there, to give us the best opportunity to win the football game,” Smart said. “D’wan did not play as bad as it seemed to some. I thought he did some good things, watching the tape. He had some unfortunate bad breaks that happened while he was in at quarterback. J.T. will be cleared but I don’t know how much that changes the picture. In terms of reps and development, we’ll be looking at everybody across the board. J.T’s got to be able to show us he can function efficiently and be able to do it with his knee.
“It’s a lot more important how we play around him and how we support him (than who plays quarterback). Whoever is able to do that the best and get the most out of the people around him is probably going to be the guy who moves the ball and produces.”
Malzahn said it’s almost like preparing for a season opener, not knowing how Daniels will operate in Georgia’s offense.
“In a way, it’s like another first-game preparation,” he said. “You’ve just got to be prepared to adjust. Last week, I thought our defense adjusted well in the second half. If they end up playing him it could be a period of time to adjust based on what the plan is.”
On the other side of the field, Auburn’s true freshman from a year ago, Bo Nix, is now a seasoned veteran with a streak of 218 passes without an interception. The media often depict the sophomore as a quarterback who takes advantage of a short passing game, an analogy Smart vigorously denies.
“He’s got a vertical passing game,” Smart said. “He’s got a great arm and makes really good decisions. It’s the decision making that he has that gives him the opportunity to not throw picks. Smart quarterbacks avoid picks because they don’t throw into situations that are adverse. He’s got a really good set of receivers. Those guys seem like they’ve been playing there forever. Seth (Williams) is one of the best there is, Eli Stove’s been there forever and we know how fast (Anthony) Schwartz is.”
That trio will be matched up against one of the best secondaries in the country on Saturday.
“First of all, they have very good players, and they are very well coached, so it’s a combination of that,” Malzahn said. “They do a good job of mixing things up, but they also do a good job of keeping things in front of them. It’s tough to get explosive plays. Of course, that will be a key. We’re going to have to have some explosive plays in the passing game to be able to score points, so I think that’s important.”
It also helps if the Tigers can move the ball on the ground.
“Chad’s (Morris) got the playbook and he can do a lot of different things in the running game,” Malzahn said. “You'll see us each week improving the running game. Having a lot of different things you can do is good. The more we can settle in on five linemen as we talked about Sunday, that up front will help us as far as the running game goes.”