ATHENS – The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry renews itself this Saturday for its 126th installment. No. 2 Georgia (5-0, 2-0 SEC) will host Auburn (3-2, 1-1 SEC) at Sanford Stadium.

The Bulldogs are hoping to rebound after a close 26-22 victory at Missouri last week.

“I will open up with the tradition and history of this game is pretty incredible. I think when you talk about one of the oldest rivalries in college football, it's always been a game that I know, as a player, that I looked forward to playing in,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said on Monday. “There have been some tremendous games between the two teams, and our guys are looking forward to getting to play at home in front of a raucous crowd.”

LSU defeated the Tigers 21-17, overcoming a 17-point deficit in the middle of the second quarter. Auburn blew a double-digit lead for the second consecutive week in a row.

Nevertheless, for as many problems as second-year Tigers’ head coach Brian Harsin has, he might have finally found a starting quarterback in Oregon transfer, Robby Ashford. 

“That's a young man we recruited and came over and visited us several times. He is a tremendous athlete,” Smart said of Ashford on Monday. “Coach B-Mac (Bryan McClendon) had him at Oregon when he was there and talked about how phenomenal an athlete he is. He worked out with the receivers and athletes. Didn't even work out with the quarterbacks during a lot of their conditioning program. You see it on his tape.

“He is really special in terms of twitch, being elusive. His best plays sometimes are plays that end up being broken plays. The guy can take off and really hurt you, beat you with his arm, especially on scrambles. They had a huge play last week off a scramble play,” Smart continued about Ashford. “So, being disciplined in your rush lanes, being disciplined in your coverage responsibilities when a quarterback scrambles will probably happen more often this week than most weeks because of the athlete he is.”

Ashford wasn’t perfect against LSU, although he was effective. The Hoover, Al., native completed 19-of-38 passes for 337 yards, two TDs and an INT. Ashford also had 19 yards rushing.

Regardless, Auburn’s offense has struggled throughout the season.

The Tigers are a run-first team behind the legs of Tank Bigsby, one of the most prolific rushers in the SEC. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound tailback has totaled 326 yards and four TDs so far in 2022. He is also averaging 4.7 yards per attempt through Auburn’s first five games. 

“He's explosive. He is a great guy out of the backfield to catch the ball,” Smart said of Bigsby. “He catches screens well. He is vertical in his run game. He is tough and gets yards after contact. He's one of those backs, that like the good ones, they get better with their carries. He's extremely physical and runs with a low pad level, and is one of these particular SEC backs that you better bring your lunch pail when you come to tackle them.”

Auburn’s defense is pretty stout, outside of its game against Penn State when the Tigers gave up a season-high 41 points. They are currently allowing 21.6 points per game. 

Owen Pappoe is one of the conference’s most elite tacklers. The junior inside linebacker from Lawrenceville, Ga. currently leads Auburn with 33.0 stops on the season. The Tigers also have senior Derrick Hall, who has totaled four sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss. Eku Leota and Colby Wooden are also all key contributors to their defense. 

“They're fast, physical, playing really hard. Two elite edge guys,” Smart said of the group. “They have some athletic linebackers. They play really, really hard. I mean, just call it what it is. They scratch off and play with confidence. They're flying around. I mean, I know almost every single player on that defense and they're good football players.”

Here is the video from Smart’s Monday press conference: