Auburn Tigers HC Hugh Freeze admits one most daunting aspect of stopping Georgia Bulldogs ahead of SEC rivalry game

Auburn Tigers run defense has been good, but can they stop the diverse rushing attack of Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs?

Travis May — College Football Managing Editor
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The Auburn Tigers desperately need a win coming off of two straight tough SEC losses to both Oklahoma and Texas A&M. Unfortunately, they have to face the Georgia Bulldogs this week. The third straight top ten opponent in a row.

Auburn has failed to defeat Georgia in this Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry game seven times in a row, so Hugh Freeze and company have their work cut out for them.

The good news? Auburn’s defense has been incredible this season, so they might be up for the challenge this time. The bad news? Georgia’s run game is far better than anything the Tigers have faced this season and might be the one thing that sends the Bulldogs to victory if Auburn doesn’t take care of business.

Georgia run game vs. Auburn run defense

  • Georgia Bulldogs rank 17th among power conference teams in offensive rush success rate (23rd among all FBS). Auburn has yet to face a rushing offense ranked inside the top 50 among FBS teams by that measure.
  • Auburn’s defense ranks third in rush success rate, second in EPA (expected points added) per carry, and third in yards per carry allowed among all FBS teams.
  • Georgia has five different players with multiple rushing touchdowns, all five of them averaging over five yards per carry.
  • Auburn just surrendered 139 yards to Le’Veon Moss of Texas A&M and saw Rueben Owens average over 17 yards per carry in that same game against them.

Georgia’s run game might be what defeats Auburn

Georgia’s passing game has been imperfect at times this season as Gunner Stockton continues to find himself as a quarterback, but the run game has been phenomenal as always. The Bulldogs rank top 25 in several key offensive categories, but perhaps most important is their 17th ranked (among power conference teams) rush success rate–continually keeping their offense on schedule.

When Hugh Freeze was asked about the Georgia offense and the run game specifically this week during his time with SEC media, he admitted just how tough it can be to defend:

“Big, strong running backs. And then you add in the fact that [Gunner] Stockton is–I don’t know that people give him enough credit for how he uses his legs. I think he’s smart. He uses them well to extend plays. And he can can hurt you, not only extending a play with his legs, but his eyes are always down the field. He’s playing at a really high level, along with their their their running backs, who I think are big and physical. They’re very balanced. I think the receiving corps is probably deeper than it’s been the past couple years. They’ve got [Dillon] Bell and [Zachariah] Branch, and [Colbie] Young. They all are extremely good playmakers that you have to defend as part of the run game–the way they use them in the screen game. So it’s a difficult offense to defend, but it does start, like most Georgia teams, with the run game.”

Hugh Freeze isn’t kidding when he says, “big, strong running backs”. The Bulldogs’ newfound feature running back Chauncey Bowens is 5’11”, 225 pounds. Nate Frazier is around 210 pounds. Both of them have high rates of yards after contact and miss tackles frequently.

Bowens in particular has been a major problem this season for opposing defenses, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry against Alabama, and then punishing Kentucky with several long runs again this past week.

As Hugh Freeze said, it’s not just the running backs for Georgia that get you either. Quarterback Gunner Stockton has racked up over 200 yards (excluding sacks) and five rushing touchdowns this season. He continues to improve not only with his vision once he gets going, but picking the precise moment to run to add consistent value.

The wide receivers–as a part of the run game–might be even more dangerous. Zachariah Branch and Dillon Bell have been absolute menaces in the short passing game on screens, pop passes, and even runs this season. Bell is averaging over eight yards per carry. Branch has 13 catches for 160 yards and two scores just on targets behind the line of scrimmage in the last five games alone.

Auburn has been elite against the run this season, but Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and the rest of their schedule rank outside the top 50 rushing offenses in terms of overall success rate. They haven’t been challenged by a run-first team that can punch them in the mouth even when they know it’s coming.

Defensive ends Keldric Faulk and Keyron Crawford are going to have to step up in run defense more than ever. Breakout star linebacker Xavier Atkins is going to have to fix his missed tackle issues (seven on the season already according to PFF). Huge Freeze frankly needs a defensive miracle this week if he wants his Auburn Tigers to stop Georgia’s rushing attack. And then of course Jackson Arnold needs to avoid taking a sack every other play.

We’ll be back with more Auburn Tigers coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!

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