Alex Golesh Defines What Auburn Needs To Beat Georgia

The Auburn Tigers are not quite off to the start they were hoping for under new head coach Alex Golesh, as they head into their first bye week with a 3-2 record. Sure, two of those losses came to ranked teams, but the Tigers did not look particularly competitive throughout much of both games.

However, there have been flashes of top-level play from this team in all five games so far this season, so what do the Tigers need to beat Georgia after their bye week? Auburn head coach Alex Golesh broke it down.

“A lot of work,” Golesh said. “Well, they are incredibly physical, incredibly detailed. I think you watch a team in Georgia that knows what their identity is on both sides of the ball. They haven’t changed much. I go back to last time I game-planned against Georgia, was 2022. Very similar schematically. Do it at a high, high level defensively. Big, physical, can run. And that’s at all three levels.”

The Tigers, on the other hand, have struggled to create an identity on both sides of the ball this season, though their defense appears much closer to consistency than the offense. The defense, led by returning defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, has been quite impressive this season, barring a few mental errors and missed tackles, all of which can be cleaned up with relative ease.

Offensively, however, Golesh’s early comments about leaning on the rush attack appear to have fallen flat, as the Tigers’ RB1 at the start of the season, Jeremiah Cobb, has totaled just 20 carries over three games of SEC play with very limited success. The Tigers have turned to other options, notably hometown legend Omar Mabson II, but their rushing attack still looks flat at best against some of the stronger teams in the country.

In my opinion, the biggest thing the Tigers should be working on during the bye week is offensive line play, though that opinion is likely a cold take at best. The Tigers were forced to reload their entire offensive line unit after six of seven starters from the 2025 season transferred or graduated, and it’s been a struggle to get so many new players acclimated with each other and blocking at a high level.

If the Tigers can get that sorted out, though, the rushing attack should open up just enough to be a threat, which should keep the passing game alive long enough to, at the very least, pick up a first down in the first quarter of the Georgia game. That doesn’t sound like a tall task, but the Tigers did not pick up a first down in the first quarter of the Florida and Tennessee games, so starting there may be a good idea.

Georgia, of course, is the No. 2 team in the land right now, so a win in their home stadium will be no small task for the Tigers. However, Auburn has been known for its magic moments against top teams, so if the Tigers can get just enough moving properly, things could improve in a hurry on the Plains.

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