UGA Releases Official Trailer for UGA-Auburn
ATHENS - Georgia and Auburn face off in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry on Saturday...
Series History For Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry
Georgia topped Auburn 27-10 in Athens last year and has won 14 of the last 18. The Bulldogs improved their series lead to 59-56-8 in 2018. The road team has a better re- cord in the series as Georgia is 16-12-2 on the Plains while Auburn is 18-15 in Athens. In 2017, the No. 2 Bulldogs fell to the No. 10 Tigers 40-17 at Auburn. Then, No. 6 Georgia topped No. 2 Auburn 28-7 in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.
Saturday will mark the 124th meeting between Georgia and Auburn, making it the second most played active series in the NCAA FBS trailing only Wisconsin-Minnesota (128 entering 2019). North Carolina-Virginia and Miami (Ohio)-Cincinnati have played 123 times entering the 2019 season. The Bulldogs andTigers first squared off in 1892 in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. The only event that interrupted the series was World War I as the teams did not play in 1917-18 and 1943.
The 2012-13 seasons saw the Bulldogs head to Auburn for consecutive years, mark- ing the first time the game had been played at the same site for two years in a row since 1958. The game was played in Columbus during a stretch from 1930-58. The first 10 games were played in Atlanta starting in 1892.
2018 FLASHBACK: #5 Georgia Beats #24 Auburn 27-10
Behind 303 yards on the ground and a defense that blanked Auburn in the second half, fifth-ranked Georgia defeated the 24th-rankedTigers 27-10. For the third consecu- tive contest, tailback D’Andre Swift ran for over 100 yards, leading the Bulldogs (9-1, 7-1) with a career-high 186 yards on 17 carries. Swift also paced Georgia through the air, reeling in a team-high four receptions for 43 yards. Jake Fromm went 13-for-20 for 193 yards directing the offense. Monty Rice led the defense with eight tackles.
Stingy Defense
Georgia leads the SEC in Scoring Defense at 10.1 points/game (No. 2 nationally), Rushing Defense at 74.6 yds/g (No. 4 nationally) and inTotal Defense at 260.3 yds/g (No. 5 nationally). The Bulldogs have allowed just 91 points in 2019 (10TDs, seven FGs).
UGA is the only FBS team in the nation yet to allow a rushing TD. In fact, the Bulldogs are the first FBS team in at least the past 20 seasons to not allow a rushing touchdown in its first nine games, according to ESPN. Auburn is 13th nationally with 23 rushing touchdowns this season.
Tennessee (1939) and Ole Miss (1963) are the only SEC teams in history to hold their opponents to no rushing touchdowns all year. The best mark for a team in the 2000s was Alabama in 2011 when the Tide held opponents to three touchdowns in 13 games. Alabama allowed 72.7 yards/game that year. The 2017 Bulldog squad allowed only eight in 15 games (126.0 yards/game) while Georgia’s 1981 team allowed only five touchdowns in 11 regular season contests and one bowl game (bowl stats did not count until 2002).
First ChanceTo ClinchThe East
At 5-1 in the SEC, Georgia has a chance to clinch its third consecutive SEC East- ern Division title with a win on Saturday in what is Kirby Smart’s fourth year as head coach. The 8-1 Bulldogs are aiming to become the first Eastern Division team to win three in a row since Florida won five straight from 1992-96. Georgia has advanced to the SEC Championship Game seven times and is 3-4 in those appearances, winning titles in 2002, 2005 and 2017.
Did You Know?
Georgia and Auburn are two of six FBS teams that have not surrendered more than 24 points in a game this season. The others are Clemson, Iowa, Ohio State and San Diego State.