The movable object vs. the stoppable force. That is what is at play here in this year's edition of The Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. Shockingly, Georgia does not have a pass rush. Conversely, Auburn effectively has a crash test dummy running point in the backfield in Jackson Arnold. While he is certainly no Brad Roberts, when God shuffled his feet, it sounded a lot like Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm...
Per Team Rankings, Georgia ranks 122nd out of 136 teams in FBS at quarterback sack percentage. At 2.84 percent, the only teams worse than the Dawgs in the Power Four are Syracuse (2.48 percent), Georgia Tech (2.38 percent) and North Carolina (1.97 percent). For reference, Georgia was able to sack the opposing quarterback at a 7.52-percent clip a year ago. It would be tied for 38th this season.
On the other side of the coin, Auburn ranks second to last in FBS at quarterback sacked percentage at a disgusting 13.58 percent. Only the Liberty Flames are worse than the Tigers at allowing their quarterbacks to get sacked at 13.86 percent of the time. Auburn only had its quarterback get sacked 6.83 percent of the time last season. Arnold's former team Oklahoma was the worst at 14.16 percent!
Clearly, Arnold has no vision or feel for the pass rush, but keep in mind this a home game for Auburn.
If Georgia pass rush cannot sack Jackson Arnold, it will never sack anyone
If we were to take Auburn's quarterback sacked percentage of 13.58 and subtract Georgia's sack percentage of 2.84, that would give us a 10.74-percent discrepancy to work with. If push comes to shove, that 10.74 percent up for grabs will be what decides this rivalry game. If it were an even split, Georgia's pass rush would be 5.37 percent better going up against Auburn on the road this weekend.
On the other side of the coin, an equal split would mean Arnold would be upright 5.37 percent more of the time than he regularly is. Again, this is a movable object vs. a stoppable force. It will be Auburn's Power Four worst pass protection trying its best to hold its own vs. the worst pass rush in the SEC in Georgia's up to this point in time. Truth be told, Georgia will sack Arnold enough to make a difference.
The big key here is Georgia has still be able to win four of its five games up to this point with no pass rush. In the one game it lost, it was at home by a field goal to perpetual nemesis Alabama. Oklahoma and Texas A&M had field days getting after the passer in their games with Auburn. It may be at home for the Tigers, but it is not going to matter. There will be crowd noise, but Arnold cannot see the field.
Unfortunately, if Georgia cannot wreak havoc in the backfield vs. Arnold, they will not stop anyone...