Auburn vs. Georgia: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More
While not as high stakes as it appeared about a month ago, Saturday's encounter between the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs will have explosive implications.
Both teams dropped recent encounters they were supposed to win, and that has dampened this matchup. Auburn, ranked No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings, dropped a three-point decision to Texas A&M last week. Georgia, No. 15, was blown away by unranked Florida recently.
Despite recent missteps, these two offensive-minded squads are sure to engage in one of the season's best shootouts, especially with the Bulldogs' Todd Gurley returning just in time to help his team push for an SEC East crown.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
It is certainly no longer the biggest matchup of the weekend, but it's one that can have far-reaching implications depending on who emerges from the offensive war.
Riding the Workhorses
Gurley is back, but understand that a good problem spanning back to the start of the season is very much alive in Athens—the Bulldogs have a hard time getting a number of talented backs enough carries.
Steve Palazzolo of Pro Football Focus puts it best:
All Nick Chubb did in Gurley's absence was post staggering numbers against credible opposition, win or lose:
| @Missouri | 38 | 143 | 3.8 | 18 | 1 |
| @Arkansas | 30 | 202 | 6.7 | 43 | 2 |
| Florida | 21 | 156 | 7.4 | 43 | 1 |
| @Kentucky | 13 | 170 | 13.1 | 55 | 1 |
Keep in mind that talented freshman Sony Michel is back in action one game removed from rushing 16 times for 84 yards and a score. Still, Bulldogs coach Mark Richt seems open to the idea of letting Gurley handle the bulk of the work, per Athens Banner-Herald's Marc Weiszer:
"He's definitely got fresh legs. I think he stayed in really good condition during the time that he wasn't playing. I don't think you forget how to play football in five weeks or forget how to run the ball the way he runs it and the way he pass protects and catches the ball out of the backfield and all that. I think it'll come back to him pretty quick.
"
Regardless of who gets the carries, the talented backfield will look to make headway against a sometimes shaky Auburn defense that allows 24.1 points per game on average, good for the No. 46 mark in the nation.
Then again, the Tigers make no efforts to hide what they will do on the ground—senior back Cameron Artis-Payne is the workhorse, and quarterback Nick Marshall is the wild card.
Artis-Payne is averaging 5.7 yards per carry on the ground this year and has 1,190 yards and nine scores. Marshall is an improved passer this season (1,576 yards, 14 touchdowns to four interceptions) but helps to add versatility to the offense thanks to his 698 yards and 11 scores on the ground.
Neither offense is going to sugarcoat the approach Saturday night. A bigger gut-check game for either side will be quite difficult to name.
Jumping Out and Staying Out
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn receives a ton of credit for his offense—rightfully so—but even he has to know that the Tigers need to be quicker out of the gate.
The Tigers have become victims to the same thing in both of their losses. An eventual 38-23 shellacking at the hands of Mississippi State was the byproduct of falling behind 21-0 after the first quarter. Last week in the loss to the Aggies, the Tigers fell behind 14-0 and recovered but never truly overcame the deficit.
Defense would be the problem for the Tigers. For an elite offense, falling behind is not so bad, but it puts an up-and-down defense in a precarious position. As defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson noted, his unit's sloppy tackling habits played a major role in the team's loss to A&M, per Justin Ferguson of the Ledger-Enquirer:
"I think we had 11 (missed tackles) that added up to 114 yards, something of that nature, and that’s a lot of yardage. Of course, you're going to miss some on great players. But if you eliminate half of that, it will get you off the field quicker, get your offense the ball quicker, helps field position and everything.
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Sprinkle in a few turnovers by Marshall and the offense, and the Tigers seem to get in their own way more than any opponent does.
It should go without saying, then, that the key for an Auburn road win Saturday is to grab an early lead and never let off the gas. This will force Georgia to go to the air more and take the ball out of the hands of a talented backfield.
The inverse also holds true. Should Georgia get out to an early advantage, killing the clock and keeping the ball out of Marshall's hands is a path to victory.
When: Saturday, November 15, 7:15 p.m. ET
Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens, Georgia
Television: ESPN
Betting Lines (via Odds Shark):
- Over/Under: 68.5
- Spread: Georgia (-2)
Team Injury Reports
| Gage Batten | FB | 08/31/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
| Jordan Diamond | G | 09/26/2014 | will miss the remainder of the season | Out | undisclosed |
| Raashed Kennion | DE | 11/09/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Georgia | Questionable | ankle |
| Alex Kozan | G | 08/02/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | back |
| Carl Lawson | DE | 07/15/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | knee |
| D'haquille Williams | WR | 11/10/2014 | will miss Saturday's game against Georgia | Out | knee |
| Patrick Young | FB | 08/31/2014 | is expected to miss the entire season | Out | knee |
| Sheldon Dawson | S | 10/01/2014 | has left the team | Out | personal |
| Shattle Fenteng | DB | 09/25/2014 | is expected to miss the remainder of the season | Out | shoulder |
| Todd Gurley | RB | 11/09/2014 | is probable for Saturday's game against Auburn | Probable | disciplinary |
| Merritt Hall | FB | 08/14/2014 | will miss the entire season | Out | concussion |
| Rico Johnson | CB | 10/02/2014 | is out indefinitely | Out | illness |
| Shaq Jones | CB | 10/06/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
| Keith Marshall | RB | 11/09/2014 | is questionable for Saturday's game against Auburn | Questionable | ankle/knee |
| Jon Taylor | DT | 07/23/2014 | was dismissed from the team | Out | disciplinary |
Injury reports per The Sports Network, via USA Today.
Prediction
Georgia at home is quite the dangerous team, especially with a fresh Gurley back in the fold.
The Bulldogs have a perceived weakness with senior quarterback Hutson Mason under center, but he has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes this season and should have few issues taking advantage of Auburn's No. 102 pass defense that gets torched time and again on short passes.
As long as Mason takes care of the football, the talent around him will do the rest. The receivers can take short grabs for big yardage against a struggling defense while Gurley and Co. control the tempo.
A few big plays define a game like this. Auburn's defense will once again yield those.
Prediction: Georgia 40, Auburn 38
Statistics and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
