Georgia football: 5 things I want to see from the Bulldogs this weekend against Auburn
By Tom Brew
Published:
Since 2005, the usually-pretty-even border war between Auburn and Georgia has been a little one-sided. Georgia is 10-3 since then, with the two clubs splitting last year. Auburn won the regular-season game with ease, but the Bulldogs turned the table in the SEC Championship Game.
This year’s game (7 p.m.; TV: ESPN) is being played with much less fanfare. Georgia was No. 1 in the country last year when they lost at Auburn, and the return win earned them a College Football Playoff berth. This year, the Bulldogs have already clinched the SEC East, and Auburn, sitting at 6-3 overall and just 3-3 in the SEC, is going nowhere.
Here are five things I want to see from the Bulldogs this weekend against the Tigers:
1. Don’t take Auburn for granted, despite records
At 6-3, this Auburn team might very well rank as the biggest disappointment in the country. They were preseason No. 9 and moved up to No. 7 after beating a very good Washington team in their season opener. They’ve pretty much stunk since then, and they’re 14-point underdogs on Saturday. How much does that all mean in a rivalry? Not much, really. With conference titles out of the picture now, the Tigers are dead set on ruining someone’s season, either Georgia’s this week or Alabama’s in two weeks. The Bulldogs can’t let that happen. They’ve played really well in back-to-back victories over Florida and Kentucky, and they need to do the same thing this weekend, even if they see a lot of old high school buddies and rivals across the line.
2. Continue to bring the heat on the quarterback
Despite having a returning quarterback in Jarrett Stidham who many thought might be a Heisman Trophy candidate, offensive “genius” Gus Malzahn has struggled with this bunch. Auburn ranks 11th in the SEC and 89th nationally (out of 130 teams) in total offense. The biggest problem has been Auburn’s offensive line, so it’s imperative that Georgia’s pass rush has a dominating game. They’ve made things very uncomfortable for opposing quarterbacks the past two weeks. Keep turning up the heat.
3. Enjoy D’Andre Swift rounding into form at the right time
With his nagging injuries behind him, Georgia sophomore running back D’Andre Swift has been great lately. He has gone over 100 yards two weeks in a row and has made several highlight-reel big plays in the process. Auburn’s defensive front was supposed to be one of the best in the country, but they’ve underachieved, too. It would be nice to see another 100-yard game out of him, especially if a couple of the runs end in touchdowns.
4. Keep momentum going for QB Jake Fromm
Jake Fromm has really had only one bad game all year, and that was the ugly 20-point loss at LSU. He has bounced back nicely with solid performances against Florida and Kentucky. His solid numbers are one thing, but what has been even better — and keeps getting better every week — is that Fromm is a great leader and takes ownership of everything on the offensive side of the ball. That’s saying a lot for a college sophomore who was still playing high school football this time two years ago.
5. Get through the game without any serious injuries
The hardest part of playing games that don’t seem to have immediate impact on anything is the fear of starters getting hurt. Sure, Georgia can’t stub its toe down the stretch here in the regular season, but they will be two-touchdown favorites or more in every game. Wins shouldn’t be hard to come by, so let’s hope the injury report is short come Sunday morning.
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.
