Kirby Smart is going against what everyone else is saying about Auburn
The Georgia Bulldogs play host to Auburn Tigers on Saturday in what is the 129th meeting of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. Auburn enters the matchup with a 2-3 record and is 0-2 against SEC opponents. They're also projected to lose to Georgia by a widespread of 24.5 points. The Tigers have struggled to get […]
The Georgia Bulldogs play host to Auburn Tigers on Saturday in what is the 129th meeting of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.
Auburn enters the matchup with a 2-3 record and is 0-2 against SEC opponents. They're also projected to lose to Georgia by a widespread of 24.5 points.
The Tigers have struggled to get the ball moving offensively this season due to their own mistakes, which is exactly why Georgia head coach Kirby Smart is warning people to stop overlooking them.
"I think with Hugh (Freeze), he does a great job of changing things up, giving you different pictures," Smart said. "They did a tremendous job in the game last year. We had really good defense, and last year’s game has been very important to us in terms of the way he played us, what he did, things off of it. It will take great eye discipline to play well against them. Look, people misunderstand. They think that you’re just coach speak when you talk about Auburn. These guys have not really made like — they’re not getting stopped. They’re turning the ball over. Look at the stats of what they’ve done offensively. Don’t look at the points, the scores. Just look at them go up and down the field, and they’ve stopped themselves a lot of times.
"A lot of respect for the physicality they play with them, how they play. Sometimes it’s hard to control turnovers.”
Auburn gave Georgia a run for their money last season, keeping them within one touchdown for a final score of 27-20.
So far this year, Auburn is giving up an average of 18.5 points per game with last week's 27 points to No. 14 Oklahoma being the most they allowed in five games.
While their defense is holding opponents to less than three touchdowns, the Tigers have turned the ball over nine times through five games. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have forced the ball over five times.
Smart wishes he had an answer to how the Bulldogs could for Auburn to turn the ball even more, but admitted there is no secret sauce to doing so.
“I wish. I wish I knew how to, like, sprinkle some dust and get them and stop them," Smart said. "If I could figure that out, man, then I’d be able to retire real soon because I could go around and just, like, give it to everybody, you know. But nobody knows. I mean, they don’t carry the ball poorly. They don’t have poor ball security. They’ve had some unfortunate events and fumbles, and they’ve had some unfortunate – they had tips. I mean, some of their interceptions are tips and overthrows. How do you control that? I mean, number one, catch the ball, but it’s hard to – it’s just hard to control. I don’t know. Every year somebody different wins the turnovers in the country. You just don’t want to be the team turning it over.”
Fans can catch a potential turnover battle when Georgia vs. Auburn kicks off on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Former Georgia RB Terrell Davis drops score prediction for Bulldogs vs. Auburn Tigers
He predicts a close one!
