Auburn O-Lineman Believes Beating Georgia Requires Looking Inward

The team knows they have the potential to upset a top rival, but it will require the Auburn Tigers to get out of their own way

Auburn Tigers offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright eyes the team learning from its mistakes | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Auburn Tigers offensive lineman Jeremiah Wright spoke to the media on Tuesday about the current state of the offensive line following two rough weeks for the group on the road. Despite those recent struggles, Wright maintained that the group is ready to go on Saturday.

“You know, we’ve got to let the last game go, learn from our mistakes,” Wright said. “We’re on to Georgia, and we’re preparing to be ready to be back at home. We were on the road the last two games, two tough environments. We know the expectation in Jordan-Hare Stadium, and you know, that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to execute.”

The ability to execute would be a welcome sight for the Auburn line, which has struggled to do so in its last two games. The unit allowed 9 sacks and committed 8 penalties against Oklahoma, and followed that up with 5 sacks allowed and 6 penalties committed against Texas A&M.

During the bye week, much of the chatter around the program has centered on allowing quarterback Jackson Arnold to play more freely, and an offensive line that provides him with more time to work would help achieve that goal.

Additionally, the recent news surrounding Xavier Chaplin and his hearing issue has explained the transfer tackle’s struggles to begin the season. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze and the rest of his staff should now be able to work with Chaplin and add things such as silent counts into the offense to help the Tigers’ prized portal addition.

After the off week of work and a chance to reset, many Auburn players are feeling like the team has an opportunity against Georgia in Jordan-Hare, and Wright is no different.

“We’ve kind of got an advantage at home,” Wright said. “Our crowd is different, the atmosphere is different. So we’re getting ready to go out here and push each other to work hard and go out here and dominate.”

One area where the Auburn offensive line has been dominant this year is in the run game. That is, when they’ve been given the chance to use it. Despite Freeze’s recent reluctance to run the ball, Auburn running backs are averaging 6.4 yards per carry so far this year. If that number were a singular running back, that back would be No. 23 in the nation in yards per carry.

So, understandably, Wright and the rest of the Auburn offensive line are eager for a chance to put that ability in the run game on display.

“It’s very different when we’re able to go out there and just play our game and be Auburn,” Wright said. “We’ve got to go out there, and we’re not playing them, we’re playing ourselves. So we’ve got to go out there and execute and do what we know, do what we’re best at doing, and that’s running the ball, and also passing.”

If Auburn can establish an effective run game behind the offensive line on Saturday, it would go a long way toward a potential upset bid. Even with Jordan-Hare Stadium in play, a one-dimensional Auburn offense will not be enough to beat the Bulldogs on Saturday night.