The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry renews itself for the 126th time this Saturday, as No. 2 Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) will host Auburn (3-2, 1-1 SEC) at Sanford Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS.
“I think when you talk about one of the oldest rivalries in college football, it’s always been a game that I know, as a player, I looked forward to playing in,” UGA head coach Kirby Smart told reporters on Monday. “Our guys are looking forward to getting to play at home in front of a raucous crowd. A great atmosphere. I’m expecting our fans to turn out and give us an electric atmosphere to play in against a good Auburn football team.”
This past Saturday, LSU defeated Auburn 21-17, a game in which the Tigers of Baton Rouge trailed by 17 points in the second quarter. Auburn blew a double-digit lead for a second straight week.
Still, for as many problems as second-year Tigers’ head coach Brian Harsin has, he might have finally found a starting quarterback in Oregon transfer, Robby Ashford.
“That’s a young man we recruited and came over and visited us several times. He is a tremendous athlete,” Smart said of Ashford on Monday. “Coach B-Mac (Bryan McClendon) had him at Oregon when he was there and talked about how phenomenal an athlete he is. He worked out with the receivers and athletes. Didn’t even work out with the quarterbacks during a lot of their conditioning program. You see it on tape. He is really special in terms of twitch, being elusive.
“His best plays sometimes are plays that end up being broken plays. The guy can take off and really hurt you, beat you with his arm, especially on scrambles," Smart continued. "They had a huge play last week off a scramble play. So being disciplined in your rush lanes, being disciplined in your coverage responsibilities when a quarterback scrambles will probably happen more often this week than most weeks because of the athlete he is.”
Though effective, Ashford wasn’t perfect against LSU, completing 19-of-38 passes for 337 yards, two TDs and an INT. He also had 19 yards rushing.
Regardless, Auburn’s offense has struggled throughout the season. The Tigers are a run-first team behind the legs of Tank Bigsby, one of the most prolific rushers in the SEC.
The 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back has totaled 326 yards and four TDs so far in 2022. He also is averaging 4.7 yards per attempt through Auburn’s first five contests.
“He’s explosive. He is a great guy out of the backfield to catch the ball,” Smart said of Bigsby. “He’s one of those backs, that like the good ones, they get better with their carries. He’s extremely physical and runs with a low pad level and is one of these particular SEC backs that you better bring your lunch pail when you come to tackle them.”
Auburn’s defense is stout, outside of its game against Penn State when the Tigers gave up a season-high 41 points. They currently allow just 21.6 points per game.
Owen Pappoe is one of the conference’s most elite tacklers. The junior inside linebacker from Lawrenceville currently leads Auburn with 33 stops on the season. The Tigers also have senior Derrick Hall, who has totaled four sacks and seven tackles for loss. Eku Leota and Colby Wooden also represent key contributors to their defense.
Georgia Injury Update
The Bulldogs are hoping to rebound after a sloppy performance the past two weeks against Kent State and Missouri but will be without a few key players against the Tigers.
Smart said Monday that defensive tackle Jalen Carter will miss Saturday’s game.
Carter left the contest versus Missouri on a questionable play in which a Tigers’ offensive lineman took what looked to be a chop block at his ankle.
“I talked to the official during the play. He felt comfortable about what the play was,” Smart said. “We talked about it before the game. They have a lot of backside cuts. Auburn, a lot of teams use the same methods. I’m hopeful that we can keep our players safe and do what is within the limits of the game and the rules, but that’s not for me to decide. Jalen is going to be a week or two. Not sure, it’s MCL like expected. We don’t know how long it’s going to be, but doesn’t look good for this week.”
The seventh-year head coach is also “hopeful” to get wide receiver AD Mitchell, who traveled to Missouri but didn’t play, back on Saturday.
“He is much closer this week than he was last week,” Smart said. “Getting Arian (Smith) back helped with that. All the reps the freshman got helped. Got to continue to get those guys better.”
Also, freshmen running back Andrew Paul and outside linebacker C.J. Washington are out for the season; cornerback Nyland Green is questionable; running back Kenny McIntosh is questionable; defensive back Javon Bullard is expected to be back from his one-game suspension, but is listed as questionable; outside linebacker Chaz Chambliss is questionable; junior Warren Brinson is probable; inside linebacker Smael Mondon is probable.