Georgia-Auburn is a must-win for both, so who prevails?
Georgia football and the Auburn Tigers meet again Saturday to renew a storied rivalry.
No. 4 Georgia football will take the field Saturday with the upper hand over No. 7 Auburn as the Bulldogs have won the last three meetings between the two teams. The Bulldogs lead the series with a 60-56-8 record all-time.
Both of these teams played opponents in week one that managed to keep the score close early but later in the games, the Bulldogs and Tigers showed they were the superior teams.
Against the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats, Auburn’s Bo Nix put on a show as he completed 16 passes and threw for 233 yards and three touchdowns in the 29-13 season-opening win. He also led the team in rushing with 34 yards as well. His top target was Seth Williams. The 6-foot-3, 211-pound receiver caught six passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
The Wildcats outgained the Tigers in first downs, total yards, penalties and time of possession but Auburn was more efficient on third down and didn’t turn the ball over.
In Georgia football’s 37-10 victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Bulldogs defense was a big reason for the win. Richard LeCounte picked off two of Feleipe Franks passes and Eric Stokes took another interception back to the house for a 30-yard touchdown. Stetson Bennett had a nice day under center for the Bulldogs. He threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns in his first start of the 2020 season after playing four games last year.
Georgia football needs this win, but Auburn’s offense could make things interesting
Given the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and the shortened season, this game will have more of an impact on Georgia because they have a fairly difficult three-game stretch after this matchup. They play the No. 21 Tennessee Volunteers, No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide, Kentucky and No. 3 Florida Gators.
While we don’t know what to make of the Volunteers just yet, Georgia needs to beat them and build on that momentum heading into a matchup with Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide. The Gators and Quarterback Kyle Trask are no slouch either. The Bulldogs need to be on their A-game during this stretch.
Auburn, on the other hand, has an easier three-game schedule to recover from before playing the No. 20 LSU Tigers. They will have Arkansas, South Carolina and Ole Miss. I think a Tigers loss would hurt their momentum in terms of the College Football Playoff, but I don’t think it plummets given that they don’t play another ranked opponent until the end of October.
An interesting positional matchup to watch will be Auburn’s wide receivers vs. Georgia’s defensive backs. I’m sure LeCounte is going to want to guard Williams and lock him down. LeCounte led the defense with four interceptions last season and is on pace to beat that total with nine games left in the regular season. Don’t sleep on D.J. Daniel, Stokes and Mark Webb. They led the defensive backs in pass breakups.
It will be interesting to see how the Georgia Bulldogs try to neutralize Williams and keep Anthony Schwartz and Eli Stove from carving up the secondary. I give the edge at quarterback to Nix because he looked poised and in control against Arkansas once the Tigers put their foot on the gas. Additionally, he had a solid year last season as a freshman to build off of.
Ultimately, this is going to be a great game to watch and I believe Auburn prevails in a tight contest.
Score Prediction: Auburn 31, Georgia 28
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