Get to Know: Georgia

The Auburn Tigers go on the road for the first time this season traveling to Athens, GA to play No. 5 Georgia led by head coach Kirby Smart.

The Deep Souths oldest rivalry sets up to be an interesting matchup with both teams coming off heartbreaking losses against ranked opponents last week. The Bulldogs are 3-1 to start the year with a win over No. 15 Clemson, Tennessee Tech and at Kentucky. Their only loss came last weekend in Tuscaloosa, AL versus Alabama in one of the best college football games of the early season.

Offense:

The Georgia offense is led by fifth year senior quarterback Carson Beck who is a projected first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft in April. Beck has started the year off well with 1,119 passing yards and 10 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He has a lot of new pieces around him compared to what Auburn saw last year. The bulldogs' offense seems to still be adjusting to  the losses of Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey, Dajuan Edwards and others from last season. 

New running back transfer Trevor Etienne, from Florida, has been a feature in Georgia's offense after being one of the most sought after transfers this offseason. So far this season Etienne has been solid after being suspended in the first game with 212 rushing yards and 5.9 yards per carry. Etienne is a bigger back who runs well through the tackles and has solid speed. Georgia’s backfield will also feature Branson Robinson who is a power back and Cash Jones who is a change of pace back and good receiving back.

The Bulldogs' weapons on the outside aren’t the same as they were last year but are headlined by wide receivers Dominic Lovett, Arian Smith and Dillon Bell who each have near or over 200 receiving yards this season. All three do it in different ways with Dominic Lovett doing it in the short and intermediate passing game with Arian Smith and Dillon Bell stretching the field more or catching screens. 

Georgia also has two very solid tight ends in Lawson Luckie and Oscar Delp who are very good blockers and can make catches in the middle of the field. The Dawgs added transfers Colbie Young (Miami) and London Humphreys (Vanderbilt) who will also see some action on the outside.

The Dawgs offensive line is always very good and has been solid this year but has dealt with injuries especially to guard Tate Ratledge who didn’t play last week against Alabama.

Defense:

The Georgia defense is led by linebacker CJ Allen and safety Malaki Starks who are both towards the top of their position in the sport and lead the Dawgs in tackles this year. The Bulldogs' defense also has potential top draft picks in defensive linemen Mykel Williams and linebacker Jalon Walker who are very good at getting to the quarterback. 

Georgia's defense has only allowed 14.8 points per game through their first four games. They looked like one of the best units in the country through the first three games, allowing 19 total points and only three points to Clemson in week one. 

The Bulldogs got exposed through the deep passing game and the outside running game especially from Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe last weekend. Their defense stepped up big in the second half only allowing 10 points. 

Georgia's defense has 8 sacks on the year and 2 interceptions. 

What to Expect:

Expect the Dawgs to establish the run early in the game with Trevor Etienne which they were unable to do against Alabama last week. The big questions start with Carson Beck and his receivers against Auburns defensive backs who play a ton of man-to-man which Georgia will look to take shots down the field to Arian Smith and look to get Dominic Lovett going when he is one-on-one. 

Defensively the Dawgs will look to get after quarterback Payton Thorne and force him into mistakes throwing the ball so the Auburn offense will have to lean heavy on star running back Jarquez Hunter again this week to get their offense going.

The Dawgs defense was prone to giving up big plays last week against Alabama on the outside so expect Cam Coleman and Keandre Lambert-Smith to take advantage of their one-on-one matchups on the outside when they get the chance.  

Ultimately this game will come down to two things whether the Auburn defense can make Georgia one dimensional on offense or if Auburn’s offense can consistently score and keep up with the high-powered Georgia offense.