Georgia can’t let Alabama beat them twice in Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry with Auburn
By John Buhler
I get that Georgia has one of the hardest schedules in the country, but that doesn't matter. Just go out and beat Auburn comfortably, and you should be fine. After another first half to forget about vs. Alabama, Georgia very briefly led over the Crimson Tide before losing one of the craziest regular season games you will ever see. Carson Beck has to be better, as does his head coach, Kirby Smart.
The Dawgs has lost a combined three times in the last four years, all of which have come to Alabama. With Auburn coming up, Georgia needs to do what it has done to their rival for two decades now and protect their turf at home. Not since the George W. Bush Administration has Auburn won in Athens. The only times Auburn has gotten the best of Georgia in recent memory have been at Jordan-Hare.
Yes, Georgia still has to play the likes of Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas this season, but the Dawgs have to take care of business vs. one of the worst teams in the SEC. Hugh Freeze is quickly falling out of favor with War Eagle Nation. Georgia is something like a 23.5-point favorite over Auburn at home. Now is not the time to dwell on what happened at Bryant-Denny. Y'all have a huge rivalry game to win!
Georgia has a slightly better than 50/50 chance of making the College Football Playoff right now.
Georgia cannot afford to let Alabama beat them twice vs. Auburn
These are the types of games program wins are based around. Under Smart's predecessor Mark Richt, I remember a handful of times when he let things snowball after a bad loss for Georgia. Very rarely have we experienced a losing streak under Smart. It has contributed to Georgia being near the top of the college football world for the better part of a decade now. No excuses. Just go out and play ball!
It was around this time last year when Beck was first tested as the Georgia starter. The Dawgs had a challenging time defending Payton Thorne and the run-first attack of Auburn. Yes, this game was at Jordan-Hare, but it wasn't until Beck found Brock Bowers for his lone touchdown of the game that we thought Georgia was going to live to fight for another day. Bowers plays for the Las Vegas Raiders...
Beck did show in the second half vs. Alabama how good he can be playing with pace. I don't feel that Mike Bobo did him any favors with the first-half play-calling. A handful of turnovers and a C- effort out of Beck contributed to Georgia losing to Alabama for the second time in a row. Together, he and his teammates must ask themselves how good do they want to be. Their playoff chances hinge on this.
Not to say this is an elimination game for Georgia, but a loss to Auburn would ruin the Dawgs' season.