Saturday has a chance to be a special night on The Plains.
Auburn football is set to take on No. 10 Georgia in the 130th installment of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry at 6:30 p.m. CST in front of a sold-out Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Tigers, looking to avoid dropping their ninth straight to the Bulldogs, return home following back-to-back losses to current AP Top 25 teams Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The two losses came by a combined 11 points.
Georgia is coming off a blowout win over Kentucky after losing a heartbreaker to Alabama at home the prior week, ending the Bulldogs’ 33-game home winning streak.
If Hugh Freeze and his squad are going to have any chance against a national powerhouse like Georgia, the offense is going to have to get things rolling. In their past two outings, the Tigers have recorded 27 points and 464 yards of offense. That isn’t good enough, and Freeze made it clear following a gut-punching loss in College Station, Texas, that something was going to change.
“We have two weeks to prepare for Georgia, and we’re going to reevaluate everything on our offense,” Freeze said. “It’s not on Jackson or any other player. It’s on our staff, and that starts with me to fix it.”
Auburn’s offense better figure things out because the Tigers’ defense is going to have its hands full with Gunner Stockton and company. The Bulldogs are averaging 34.6 points and 438.6 yards of offense per game. Stockton has had a great start to the year, posting 11 total touchdowns, 1,047 yards through the air and just one interception.
If the Tigers’ offense can convert on third down and put up a respectable performance, they should have a good chance to win this game. However, converting on third down is going to be a tall task for Freeze and his offense. Auburn has gone 3-for-27 on third down in its last two games.
Jordan-Hare Stadium is notorious for being one of the best home-field advantages in college football, and Vegas seems to agree. Georgia is currently favored by only 3.5 points on all major sportsbooks. You have to think the home crowd is going to play a big role Saturday night. After all, some would say Jordan-Hare is haunted.
“In my opinion, in 17 years of going to Auburn, playing in Jordan-Hare, that place is haunted,” said legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban. “I guarantee it.”
As if there already wasn’t enough hype around this game, Auburn will retire Cam Newton’s legendary No. 2 jersey at halftime. Newton led the Tigers to the 2010 BCS National Championship and became the third Tiger to win the Heisman Trophy, joining quarterback Pat Sullivan and running back Bo Jackson.
Some of the Auburn family has begun to turn on Freeze and the rest of the coaching staff following back-to-back losses. If they want to win, those fans back Saturday night must look a lot different than two weeks ago — and it starts with the offense.
“They better,” Freeze said on if fans will see a different offense this weekend.
“I take great pride in that… It’s something that doesn’t sit well with you. I anticipate that not happening again.”
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Rory is a sophomore majoring in journalism sports production. He started with The Plainsman in the spring of 2025.
You can follow him on X (Twitter) at @RorymGarvin
