Preview: Auburn Tigers try to top Georgia Bulldogs
Although they are used to being the hunted, the Georgia Bulldogs (5-5, 3-4 SEC) have had a bit of an off-year, experiencing a role reversal this season. However, this Saturday 13 November, the Bulldogs have an excellent opportunity to play spoiler by crushing
the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) title hopes of the No. 2 Auburn Tigers (10-0, 6-0 SEC) when they travel to Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The Tigers, however, are more than reluctant to lie down easily, needing just one victory in their two remaining regular-season contests to play for the SEC (Southeastern Conference) championship on 4 December. Auburn, who will face the No. 11 Alabama Crimson
Tide in their 26 November season finale, must first take care of the Bulldogs this weekend to keep both their conference and national championship hopes afloat.
The Tigers have hopped back into championship contention for the first time since 2004. That season, Auburn went undefeated but was left out of the BCS championship game on account of the also unblemished Oklahoma Sooners (12-0) and University of Southern California
Trojans (12-0). What would make a run at this year’s BCS title even more rewarding for the resurrected Tigers would be two victories over long-time rivals Georgia and Alabama to finish off the regular-season.
Clearly, the players know what’s at stake with three, potentially even four, prominent games left on their schedule.
“This is it, these last two games of the season,” Auburn receiver Terrell Zachery told The Associated Press (AP). “It’s everything. It’s all or nothing for us. That’s how I feel.”
Zachery’s team-mate, Mario Fannin, is employing a similar approach to these next two contests, which obviously hold a lot of significance for the squad as a whole. “These are the two most important games of any career that you play at Auburn,” the senior running
back said this week, according to the AP.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are attempting to salvage what has otherwise been a disappointing 2010 campaign. With a win over either the Tigers or Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on 27 November, Georgia will cement (at least) a .500 season, making the team eligible
for post-season play and a bowl invitation. Still, it starts with a tough test this weekend against a team that has been amongst college football’s best all season long.
“Every man on the team, I’m sure even before the clock hit zeros, was thinking about going to Auburn and playing this game,” Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said after his team’s 55-7 dismantling of Idaho State last week. “We want the opportunity to play the No.
1 or No. 2 team in the country. I hope they get voted No. 1. I would love to play a No. 1.”
And even though the Tigers aren’t in the top spot, they’re next in line. In just his second year at the helm, Auburn coach Gene Chizik has led his team to a 10-0 start, the fourth time that record has been achieved in the school’s prestigious history. However,
it was apparent that Chizik, who met with his players earlier this week to discuss what lies ahead, has his squad focused on the task at hand.
“There’s not a lot you have to talk about,” he told reporters Sunday. “Everybody knows what's at stake. We’ve said from weeks ago that if you keep winning, the stakes get higher every week. One of the reasons we don't talk about it a lot is because they already
know it.”
That likely means the Bulldogs' best shot at obtaining bowl eligibility will come against the Yellow Jackets.
Prediction: Auburn 37, Georgia 17
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