AUBURN, Ala. (EETV) -- The No.1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs will come to Jordan-Hare for the 128th meeting of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Auburn (3-1) will look to avoid recent struggles against the Bulldogs as they have lost the last six meetings against their inner conference foe.
Offense:
Despite losing a plethora of talent to the NFL after last season, the Bulldogs enter Saturday’s matchup with yet another strong unit on the offensive side of the ball, led by former Auburn offensive coordinator Mike Bobo. Georgia’s offense is 13th in total offense this year with 496.5 yards per contest.
First-year starter, Carson Beck, is the signal caller for the Georgia offense. Beck is completing his passes at a 72.7 percent clip and has thrown for 1,184 yards and six touchdowns.
Arguably one of the best players in college football, tight end Brock Bowers is his top target with 22 catches for 256 yards and two
touchdowns.
At wide receiver Dominic Lovett, a transfer from Missouri, is second on the team in receptions with 17 catches for 169 yards. Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint has nine catches for 165 yards in the last two games. Mississippi State transfer, Rara Thomas is behind him with seven receptions for 143 yards on the season. A vital player in this room is Ladd McConkey, who is hopeful to return from injury this week.
Georgia has been hit with the injury bug at running back, with Kendall Milton missing all four games. Daijun Edwards has returned to
action after missing the first two games and has combined for 184 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games. Georgia will most likely look to redshirt sophomore Cash Jones to get some work this Saturday behind Edwards.
Up front for the Bulldogs is center Sedrick Van Pran, who has started 34 consecutive games. On the right side of him is, guard Tate Ratledge and tackle Xavier Truss. On the left side is Dylan Fairchild at the guard spot and Earnest Green at the tackle spot after starter Amarius Mims suffered an ankle injury.
Defense:
With Auburn’s offense sputtering for much of the season up to this point, the Tigers will face a great challenge when Georgia comes to town on Saturday. The Georgia defense is ranked 10th nationally in total defense, giving up 282.4 yards per game.
Up front for the Bulldogs are seniors Warren Brinson and Zion Logue leading the way. Brinson leads the team in quarterback pressures with nine and adding one sack. The pressure off the edge comes from sophomore, Mykel Williams, who has contributed on two of the Bulldogs' five sacks on the season.
At linebacker, Smael Mondon is a crucial part of the Georgia defense as he is second on the team with 14 tackles. Alongside him is
Jamon-Dumas with 10 tackles, three tackles for a loss and a sack, and Chazz Chambliss who has added an interception and a tackle for a loss.
The Georgia defense is led by its stout secondary, which leads the conference in interceptions. Senior, Tykee Smith, leads the Georgia secondary with 15 tackles and three interceptions. On the other side of him is Malachi Starks, who has added 13 tackles and one interception. Giving the Dawgs a strong three-man punch is Kamari Lassiter, who has nine tackles and two and a half tackles for loss.
“They like to pressure and confuse the quarterback. They have some really good players, some really talented players. Fast, physical, what they always are,” Auburn tight end Luke Deal on the Georgia defense.
Overall:
Auburn is looking to find answers offensively heading into this matchup after a trio of Auburn quarterbacks in Thorne, Ashford and Geriner combined for just 56 yards through the air in last week’s matchup. Without Damari Alston, transfer running back Brian Battie, and true freshman, Jeremiah Cobb, will look to help Jarquez Hunter provide a strong rushing attack against the Georgia defense. Defensively, Auburn will need to build on the units’ strong showings up to this point. With safety Zion Puckett, nickel Donavan
Kaufman and much of the secondary being banged up, defensive coordinator, Ron Roberts, may have to count on some young guys to step up this week.
Auburn and Georgia will kick off this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS.
