Georgia's Keys to Victory Against Auburn

After a light start to the season, Georgia's schedule heats up as the Bulldogs head to Auburn, Alabama for their first road game of the season in the latest edition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. The Bulldogs will face a raucous crowd and a highly motivated opponent on Saturday, but if they manage to do the following, they will likely find a way to leave Auburn 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC.

Start Fast

With the Bulldogs only posting 17 total first quarter points in its first four games combined, Georgia's slow offensive starts throughout the first quarter of its 2023 schedule have been well documented. The Bulldogs took strides towards reversing that trend against UAB, but will need to accelerate that improvement on the road against Auburn. With the two-time defending national champion and current No.1 team in the nation coming to town, Jordan-Hare Stadium will be absolutely rocking on Saturday afternoon. That type of hostile environment will challenge a Georgia team with a quarterback making his first road start, but jumping out to an early lead will help take the crowd out of the game and allow Georgia's offense to get into a rhythm.

Avoid the Catastrophic Mistake(s)

While this is one of the longest-standing rivalries in the country, the reality of this edition of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry is that Georgia enters the contest with a vastly superior overall roster. With the talent discrepancy between the two teams, it is exceedingly unlikely that the Tigers will be able to knock Georgia off if the Bulldogs play anywhere close to the "standard" that Kirby Smart demands they play to. In order to pull the upset, Auburn will need Georgia to make debilitating mistakes that will give the Tigers the opportunity to overcome their talent deficit. Committing turnovers that set up scores, giving up big plays on special teams, and ill-timed penalties are the types of things that Georgia cannot do if it wants to return to Athens with its No.1 ranking still intact.

Continue the Momentum on the Ground

After being held under 100 yards rushing for the first in 31 games in its week 2 win over Ball State, Georgia has improved its ground attack over the past two weeks, rushing for 190 and 188 yards respectively against South Carolina and UAB. Despite several lingering injuries at the position, the return of running back Daijun Edwards from an MCL injury that kept him out of the first two games of the 2023 season and the emergence of converted WR Dillon Bell has boosted the Bulldog rushing attack. In what will assuredly be a raucous Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday afternoon, it will be imperative for the Bulldogs to be able to efficiently run the football in order to take pressure off of QB Carson Beck who will be making his first career road start.

Limit Auburn's Explosive Plays

To this point in the season, Auburn has had tremendous difficulty moving the football with any sort of consistency against Power Five opponents. Against Cal and Texas A&M - the only two Power Five opponents it has faced this season - Auburn only managed to generate 230 and 200 total yards of offense respectively. Georgia is statistically the best defense Auburn will have faced to this point, so it is unlikely that the Tigers will be able to move the ball with any sort of down-to-down efficiency against the Bulldogs. However, if they can manage to hit a few explosive plays on Saturday, that could mitigate the efficiency issues that have plagued their offense this season. If Georgia can communicate effectively on defense and maintain eye discipline and thereby limit Auburn's explosive plays, it will be difficult for the Tigers to score enough to pull the upset.