Auburn Football: Gene Chizik Era: Georgia First On Amen Corner!

Amen Corner is the final portion of Auburn's football schedule. For years it included Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Due to the split in the SEC that caused many traditional schedule adjustments, Florida only plays Auburn occasionally now. The Georgia game is the oldest continuous rivalry in the Southern Region in college football. While Alabama is the biggest rivalry for Auburn fans that live in the North Alabama Region, the Georgia game has always been the overall favorite rivalry of Auburn fans.

It is a rivalry of two schools that have always been friendly. Vince Dooley was an Auburn Alum and Pat Dye was a Georgia Alum. The ties between the two schools go back over a century, and are the roots of the very meaning of a healthy rivalry.

It has been a game where the best players in the country have performed against each other. Players like Bo Jackson and Hershel Walker played against each other in this game. The success of the head coach at both schools is weighted heavily on the results of this game. 

Looking ahead it seems this rivalry will be of more significance in the future. Auburn has just put into place a new coaching staff and Georgia is headed toward some major coaching staff shake ups after the season this year. Georgia has the most favorable schedule in the SEC East next season and Auburn has the same in the West. If the plans of both teams work out, there could be two Georgia V Auburn games next season.

Record means little in this game. Previous season performance has not been a good indicator of the results of this game on several occasions. If a football GURU thinks he is sure how this game will turn out, history tells a different story. The rivalry stands at 53-51-8 all time. It is 5-4 since 2000 and has been that close since its inception. The current three game domination by Georgia of Auburn is one of the longest by either school in this rivalry.

Georgia will likely be favored to win again this year. Georgia comes into this game with a team that has not met pre season expectations. They were expected to contend for the SEC East this year and that chance was over before the half way point in the season. All that is left for Georgia to achieve is victories over rivals Auburn and Georgia Tech. A Victory in both of these games will put sweet icing on a sour cake for the Bulldogs.

Auburn has been going through a transition year. A Complete new coaching staff as well as a totally new philosophy on offense and defense has been put into place. The team is young as well as thin on players. It has been a tale of two seasons so far. The first five games showed the potential of the new football philosophy and strategy. Auburn was demolished in the next three games when execution gremlins found their way into every part of the program. 

In this final portion of the season the first two games have shown marked improvement on both sides of the ball. Execution on blocking, Sure handedness and precision in passing routes, proper positioning and sure tackling have all improved markedly. The new team philosophy has kept the team together through all of this.

In the upcoming game it is a tale of two teams. One that is being torn apart by internal conflict and one that held together in the face of conflict. I think this is a much more important factor in this game than any other. I think Auburn has a definite advantage in this game.

What will happen for the Gene Chizik Coached Tigers on Amen Corner? This will likely be the defining two games of his arrival at Auburn. We will see the results of all the hard work of our team against our biggest rivals. In short we will see if our young men are coached up to the level where we can compete with our rivals once again.

Georgia has won three in a row. Look for that trend to change and get a big AMEN! for Gene Chizik and Auburn in their first visit to Amen Corner.