Georgia Football: Know the rivalry Georgia-Auburn

Georgia football goes to the plains of Auburn to play in “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.” Georgia and Auburn began playing football against each other in 1892. The game was played in Piedmont Park, and Auburn won 10-0.

I have tried to find where the game was played most of my life. Today, after researching for 5 minutes, I found my answer. The game was played in what is now called the Piedmont Park active oval. So next time you are ever in Piedmont Park, check it out—shoutout to all my college football history nerds.

Georgia won the next time the two rivals squared off in 1894. Georgia won the game 10-8. Georgia and Auburn have traded blows for 131 years. The rivalry up till recently was pretty even; at one point in the last decade, it was tied up.

Georgia, since 2002, has gone 17-5, and the Dawgs have won 11 out of the previous 13 matchups. Georgia is on a six-game winning streak against Auburn, which started in the 2017 SEC championship. That is the second longest win streak in the series; Georgia from 1923-1931 won 9 in a row. With a win Saturday, Georgia would surpass Auburn’s longest win streak in the series, which lasted from 1953-1958.

The Georgia-Auburn series has been played in multiple cities, not just Auburn and Athens. The game has been played in Savannah, Macon, Montgomery, AL, Atlanta, and Columbus. Columbus held the rivalry from 1916-1958 (38 times), with only two games being played in Athens. Since 1959, the series went to a home-home format.

Enough of the history; I could go on and on. Let’s get into Auburn. Hugh Freeze is now the coach of Auburn and is trying to turn around a dormant program. In the last few years, Auburn has been dead, and many around the Auburn football program believe Freeze is the one to turn the ship around. Freeze has overhauled the Auburn roster this offseason.

Freeze called up 20 players from the transfer portal. One of Freeze’s big gets was the former Michigan State QB Payton Throne. Throne was supposed to be a savior for Auburn, but now the “family” is getting impatient with Thorne. Last week, in an ugly loss to A&M, Auburn played two more QBs. So do not be shocked if Georgia sees more than one QB.

While the Tigers, War Eagles, and Plainsmen only scored 3 points on offense, their defense is a different story. Auburn’s defense has kept them in many games this year and is anchored by former Vandy transfer Elijah McAllister. So, the key for Auburn to win against Georgia rests in its defense.

When previewing this game in August, I said this: “There is a chance Auburn walks into this game 4-0. There will be tons of hype for Auburn to pull off this upset. Even if they lose to A&M the week before the Georgia game, there will be “whispers”  that Auburn will pull off the big upset.” Guess what? There are a lot of whispers going around saying that Auburn might beat Georgia. While I will not get into my predictions for the game right now, Don’t worry about this one. Kirby Smart doesn’t like Auburn, and neither does Mike Bobo. So do not buy into the hype of an upset.

Side tangent: The Georgia-Auburn game should not be played in September. It’s a joke that it is played this early in the year. This game should be played in the transition from fall to winter. You should be wearing a sweatshirt and long britches when watching this game.

As long as this game is played around this time of year, it will never feel right. The only reason why this game was moved was because Auburn cried about playing us two weeks before they played Alabama. Cry me a river. Georgia traditionally had to play Flordia, Auburn, and Tech, all in four weeks. Never saw Georgia fans or the football program bellyache over it! I do not know when next year’s game will be played, but it should be played in November like the football gods intended it to be played. Auburn needs to grow up because this game has lost a little bit of its luster not being played in November. Thank you for your time.