AUBURN, Ala. – Auburn will welcome the nation's No. 1 team to Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday when Georgia comes to town for the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. The atmosphere will be electric. The fans will be louder than they have been all season.
Next Game:
vs. Georgia
Sept. 30, 2023
2:30 p.m. CT
TV: CBS
Radio: Auburn Sports Network
But how will the players respond after losing at Texas A&M last weekend? The offense, in particular, had its struggles in College Station.
"Hats off to the defense first and foremost," senior tight end Luke Deal said. "These guys, every week so far, have just played their hearts out and given great effort. They had some great plays, some plays that kept us in ball games, so we need to feed off that in terms of offense.
"We ran the football well. We need to continue to do that. In the passing game, we've just got to get our mojo back. I've talked with a bunch of the defensive leaders and a bunch of the offensive leaders, and we just talked about getting back to being excited about every single play. We had that in fall camp. We've had that in times since Coach (Hugh) Freeze has been here. That's just something we've got to get back to and be intentional about."
Freeze singled out Deal this week when talking about leaders on the offense. The first-year head coach admitted that Auburn needs "more swagger" on that side of the ball, but he mentioned Deal as being the most positive guy through the struggles.
"I think he's the one that has a good grasp on how this league plays out and how challenging they are for 60 minutes and how you can have three bad possessions in a row," Freeze said. "We're not the only ones that have those. Yet, you have to maintain this positive attitude that the next one could be the one that matters."
This is nothing new for Deal. He's faced adversity before.
"My dad told me growing up, 'If you can't lead when hard times come, then you're just a front-runner,'" Deal said. "I know that when tough times come, tough people will last. That's something we have to embed in our culture here. I think guys need to realize that being a leader is not always going to be beaches and sunshine. It's whenever things get tough. That's something I think our culture council is ready to take on head on this week."
Rest assured Deal and his teammates will have no trouble getting up for Saturday's game. Not when the No. 1 team and one of your top rivals is playing at your place.
Auburn and Georgia will kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT from Jordan-Hare Stadium. The game will be televised on CBS with Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson and Jenny Dell on the call. You can also listen to Andy Burcham, Jason Campbell, Ronnie Brown and Will Herring who will have the radio call on 94.3 FM, online at AuburnTigers.com and on the Auburn app.
This week, fans attending the game are encouraged to wear orange.
Three questions with OL Kam Stutts
Q: What's the mentality this week as you turn the page to Georgia?
A: I think offensively we had a rough game. There is some stuff we've definitely got to work on and get better at, but we've got an opportunity this week to get better and go out there and show what we can do. We're looking forward to getting better this week and getting after it.
Q: What does it mean to get to play this game at Jordan-Hare?
A: It means a lot. We've got the best fans in the country and to go out there and perform in front of them, it means the world. There's nothing like going out there on a Saturday in Jordan-Hare, and the fans have been a big part of that success we've had at home. I'm looking forward to my last season getting out there and getting to show out in a rivalry game like this.
Q: What do you tell the new guys about a rivalry game like this?
A: A lot of guys, especially if you didn't grow up around this area, you don't really have that tie to it or know what it means. Just telling them about our situations and how we grew up with it and expressing what it means to us. If it means something to your teammates, then it means something to you. We're just going out there and battling for each other.
Inside the Series: Georgia
Auburn and Georgia will meet for the 128th time Saturday. Auburn trails the all-time series 56-63-8 with the Bulldogs having won 17 of the last 22 games. Auburn owns a winning record in Athens (18-17) while the Georgia has a winning mark on the Plains (18-12-2). The Tigers are 17-23-1 against ranked Georgia teams all-time.
The series is tied for the second-most played series in college football, behind only Wisconsin-Minnesota (131) and tied with North Carolina-Virginia (127) entering this season. It's older than the Georgia-Georgia Tech series (115) and the Auburn-Alabama series (87).
Auburn and Georgia first met in 1892 at Atlanta's Piedmont Park. The two teams did not play in 1943 because Auburn did not field a team due to World War II, and they did not play in 1917 and 1918 because of WWI and the subsequent influenza outbreak. With those exceptions, the Tigers and Bulldogs have played continuously since 1898.
By the Numbers
5: Auburn has five wins all-time against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll. The Tigers' last win over a top-ranked team came in the 2017 Iron Bowl when No. 6 Auburn defeated No. 1 Alabama 26-14 in Auburn. The win increased Auburn's home winning streak over top-ranked teams to three (2017 – Georgia, 2013 – Alabama, 2001 – Florida).
197.8: Through the first four weeks of the season, Auburn ranks second in the SEC in rushing offense at 197.8 yards per game, an average that ranks 31st nationally. The Tigers currently have five players with over 100 yards rushing on the season, including quarterbacks Payton Thorne and Robby Ashford. Jarquez Hunter has a team-high 143 yards in three games.
8: The Tigers lead the SEC in turnovers forced with eight through the first four games (5 interceptions, 3 fumbles recovered). Auburn is one only 11 FBS teams that have returned a fumble and an interception for a touchdown this season.
7: With Caleb Wooden collecting his first career sack at Texas A&M, Auburn now has seven players who have already recorded sacks in 2023. That group includes Eugene Asante (2), Cam Riley (2), Marcus Harris (2), Lawrence Johnson (1), Donovan Kaufman (1), Elijah McAllister (1) and Wooden (1).