Each week, two alligatorSports columnists will debate the biggest looming matchup in college football. Today, Phillip Heilman and Adam Pincus preview No. 25 Georgia’s road matchup against No. 7 Auburn on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on CBS.
Phillip: What a difference a year makes.
After going winless in Southeastern Conference play last season, including a 38-0 loss to Georgia — the first time Auburn had been shut out at home since 2003 — the Tigers have bounced back.
However, their resurgence is going to hit a snag this week with the Bulldogs in town.
Georgia has won the past two meetings between these teams by a combined score of 83-7. I don’t believe the margin of victory will be that impressive this time around, but the Bulldogs are going to keep their SEC Eastern Division title hopes alive with a critical victory.
Having recovered from a rough patch during the middle of October, Georgia is starting to resemble the team that was a play away from the national title game last season.
Todd Gurley, who was out for both of the Bulldogs’ SEC losses after suffering a sprained ankle in a win against LSU, has returned and looks like one of the nation’s top tailbacks. Going against an Auburn defense that is allowing more than 150 rushing yards per game, I expect Gurley to do enough to help his team win.
Come on, Pincus, you can’t really expect Auburn to win this game. Cam Newton doesn’t even play for them anymore, you dope!
Adam: What Auburn does have is what I like to call the Spread Eagle offense. The Tigers score 39 points and gain 493.3 yards a game. That yardage number is second only to Johnny Manziel’s Aggies in the SEC.
Quarterback Nick Marshall will have his Tigers ready to play. This is his first Auburn-Georgia game as a quarterback since he transferred from UGA in 2012. Marshall and two teammates were found stealing from a teammate. UGA coach Mark Richt gave him the boot, forcing Marshall to attend Garden City (Kan.) Community College. This is his redemption game!
As a quarterback, Marshall has rushed for 734 yards. Running back Tre Mason has 1,038 yards himself. That’s quite the duo in the backfield. Not a good combination for a Georgia team that, depending on who you talk to, may or may not have outgrown its yearly late-season woes. I know these situations are completely different, but since you brought up Newton I must ask: Sound familiar?
Phillip: That does sound eerily familiar.
However, I don’t think Marshall is nearly as talented as Newton is now or was during his one season with the Tigers. It does sound like Marshall also lacks common sense, though.
Anyway, if you want to talk about quality signal-callers, look no further than Aaron Murray.
Georgia’s quarterback, a senior who did not have to go to community college to learn to not steal things, is second in the conference in passing and has only gotten better as the season has gone on. Auburn has proven to be susceptible against strong passing attacks — the Tigers are 11th in the conference in passing defense — despite having faced only one of the SEC’s better quarterbacks this season.
Murray should have a field day.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s defense, which will certainly need to limit Mason to win the game, is fourth in the conference against the run. The Bulldogs looked pretty stout while bottling up Kelvin Taylor in Jacksonville, and I expect them to do the same Saturday to send the Tigers spiraling.
Auburn has had a friendly schedule to this point, but starting this week (and especially after playing against Alabama in two weeks to end the season) the fairy tale will come crashing down.
Adam: The Gators don’t belong in the same conversation, let alone the same sentence, as these two teams. Against top-25 teams this year, Georgia has allowed 161 rushing yards per game and boast a typical 2-2 record. These ‘Dawgs are inconsistent — whether it be because of injuries or Murray’s bazooka of a right arm.
I’m also not picking against Gus Malzahn’s now-humming offense that’s clicking on all cylinders. He may be off the Christmas card list for Florida fans for introducing the Wildcat to college football (sorry, Trey!), but he has turned Auburn into a force in the SEC.
Auburn is college football’s most improved team record wise and will show it on the field come Saturday in another edition of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. While researching things to do in Auburn, Ala., I came across the “slush bus,” which is a shuttle service provided by The Supper Club bar that drives patrons home until 5 a.m.
How can you not like a team that plays in a town with that?
Follow Phillip Heilman on Twitter @phillip_heilman. Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus.
Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall passes in a 35-17 win against Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., on Nov. 2.
