The Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0) have already clinched the SEC East, its first divisional title since 2012, while Auburn (7-2, 5-1) has a chance to take the SEC West crown and, maybe, nab a spot in the College Football Playoff. The Tigers have Alabama in a few weeks, and a win there and then a win in the SEC title game against Georgia could make Auburn the first ever two-loss team in the playoffs.
But Auburn cannot get ahead of itself.
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| Auburn's Kerryon Johnson is one of America's best running backs (Gridiron Now) |
"I think you have to embrace the fact that you are playing the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country on your home field," Tigers coach Gus Malzahn said. "Our goal is to win the SEC championship, and it has been since day one. This is the next step. It is a great opportunity for us, so it is a big game. We are not looking any farther ahead than Saturday, but this is a game we have been looking forward to, and it is here. There is a lot on the line. It is a good one."
Georgia, which is top five nationally in total defense and scoring defense, faces its biggest challenge to date -- a victory at Notre Dame notwithstanding. The Bulldogs more than doubled Auburn's yardage in last year's contest, but won just 13-7 and failed to score an offensive touchdown.
Auburn has lost two of the last three meetings at home, but Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart doesn't think that will make any difference at all.
"It's the same challenge it is at most SEC place, just a little bit louder. They have a good team," Smart said. "The better the team is, the tougher the place to play is. their fans get loud, get rowdy -- they are there pregame until the end and there have been some really loud moments playing in that stadium. I would not expect it to be any different on Saturday."
Auburn's only losses to date are to Clemson and LSU, the latter seeing the Tigers blow a 20-0 lead before falling 27-23. Since that game Auburn has exploded offensively, putting up 94 points and over 1,000 yards in wins over Arkansas and Texas A&M.
The Tigers want to get it done on the ground, with Kerryon Johnson the chief weapon. The junior has nearly 900 yards and has scored 15 touchdowns in seven games, and provides a bullish yet surprisingly nimble weapon in the backfield. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham has also improved his play, completing 72 percent of his throws in the last two contests.
Smart believes that if the Bulldogs can stop Johnson, they are in good position to win the game.
"At the end of the day he can go where he wants to with the ball," Smart said of Kerryon Johnson. "He has great speed. He gets a lot out of his runs. Last year against us he bounced out, he broke out and does a good job doing that. They know the defenses we are going to play. Gus has seen them for seven or eight years, it seems. we know the plays they are going to run. They are not going to reinvent the wheel. We have to go out there and play blocks, tackle the man with the ball and not give up big plays."
Georgia has been good in that aspect all season, allowing just 3.06 yards per rush and four touchdowns on the ground and just 21 runs of 10-19 yards in 2017 in 262 rush attempts.
Auburn has athletes, but thinking you can make plays and actually doing it, especially against a defense as lethal as Georgia's has been this year, is another story.
"You have to figure out ways to do it (big plays)," Malzahn said. "that's the challenge. When they can stop the run and still play two safeties, it's tough. You have to be balanced. The more talented a defensive team is, the more important it is to be balanced."
Like Auburn, Georgia will want to control the clock with its ground game. The Bulldogs are eighth in the country running the ball, and though Nick Chubb and Sony Michel get the headlines, Georgia is four deep in the backfield.
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| Georgia QB Jake Fromm has been steady as a freshman (Online Athens) |
Auburn is nearly as grudging on the ground defensively as Georgia, allowing 3.34 yards per carry, so Georgia may need to pass a little more than it is accustomed to. That means more of the onus is on freshman quarterback Jake Fromm, who thus far has been superb, but hasn't been asked to win a game.
Fromm has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes in Georgia's last three games, with five touchdowns and just two interceptions. He's third in the country in passing efficiency and doesn't mind taking shots downfield, averaging 9.7 yards per attempt.
The last two times Auburn defeated Georgia -- 2010 and 2013 -- it played for the national championship. The last three seasons have seen no more than eight victories, so this game could prove to be redemptive for the Tigers.
Malzahn recalls how close his team was last year, and would love to replace that memory.
"Last year was an extremely tough loss -- the fact they won the game and didn't score an offensive touchdown," Malzahn said. "This is one we have been waiting on. I know our players and coaches are excited about it because we are playing one of the best teams on our home field."
This is just the fourth road contest of the season for Georgia, and first since an early October pasting of Vanderbilt.
The victory over Notre Dame was great, but also happened before we knew what the Irish really was.
This one will prove if the Bulldogs are for real.
"They get loud in there and do a really good job of creating an environment," Smart said. "They feed off of that. So the challenges are in front of us. We will find out a lot about this team playing on the road."
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