Auburn is getting an early jump on Georgia, and coach Alex Golesh isn’t hiding it.
With the Oct. 17 road trip to Athens on the horizon, Golesh said Wednesday on the SEC teleconference that Auburn has already started shifting its attention toward the Bulldogs while still cleaning up issues from its own side. He said the Tigers used Monday and Tuesday to handle corrections on problems that have shown up repeatedly, then moved right into Georgia work.
“We spent essentially Monday, Tuesday working on us corrections things that have been consistently showing up as issues, and as a coaching staff, we started working on Georgia right away,” Golesh said. “But it was a normal Tuesday practice for us in the sense of normal opponent practice for Georgia.
(Thursday) will be essentially in the sense of just a little bit of situational football and a lot of normal down. We felt like we needed to use this week to gain it whatever advantage we feel like we can prep in for them.”
That urgency makes sense given what Auburn is staring at. Georgia is No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and unbeaten at 5-0, with quarterback Gunner Stockton putting together a strong start to the season. Stockton is inside the top 10 in QBR at 88.7 and has thrown for 1,049 yards, 13 touchdowns and only one interception in five games.
Golesh made it clear Auburn’s focus starts with making itself better, but he also knows what Georgia brings.
“Man, he is certainly one of the better quarterbacks in the country,” Golesh said. “We’re preparing by trying to be the best version of us, being uber detailed.
Obviously, this Georgia team, everything starts with the run and the play-action pass set. The ability to stop the run, which we haven’t done this year.
And then the ability to affect the quarterback, and that’s going to be anybody you play.
“So, I don’t know if it’s specifically different for Georgia as much as you know the level of talent, because it’s not just the quarterback. That’s an uber talented team on both sides of the ball, and you’re going to have to be at your best to compete with those guys.”
Golesh also said Georgia’s trip to Alabama this weekend will be part of Auburn’s homework. He plans to watch that game “really closely” as the Tigers keep building toward the matchup.
In Other News...
Alabama Commit Is Building A Senior Season Fans Can't Ignore
Ty Keys and Kole Moody are turning heads in a senior season that has already become part of the weekly conversation around high school football in the Southeast. Keys put together a monster outing with nearly 350 rushing yards in one game, while Moody found the end zone nine times, a total that stands third-most in Alabama history. For Alabama fans following the recruiting trail, performances like these are the kind that get noticed well beyond Friday nights.
Elsewhere across Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, quarterbacks, running backs, receivers and defensive playmakers kept stacking up standout nights, adding to a loaded stretch of late-season football in the region. For a program like Alabama, which always has an eye on what future contributors are doing, the rise of big individual performances only adds to the intrigue, even if the full story of how these seasons finish is still playing out. [Read more 🡒]
Alabama Fans Can Stop Stressing Over This Before Georgia
There has been plenty of hand-wringing around Alabamas matchup with Georgia, but the bigger takeaway is simpler than the anxiety suggests: this is the kind of game the Crimson Tide expected to be playing in September. Alabama is favored, yet nobody around the program should mistake that for a comfortable afternoon, especially with Kirby Smarts team bringing the usual mix of discipline, talent, and physical edge that has made Georgia such a tough out.
Even so, there are a few things Alabama fans can probably stop losing sleep over before kickoff. The debate is less about whether the Tide can handle the moment and more about how theyll navigate the usual playoff-caliber demands that come with playing Georgia. If Alabama does what it has spent the week preparing to do, the conversation afterward may have more to do with how the Tide managed the game than whether they were ready for it at all. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee Just Created A New Alabama Worry Before October 17
Tennessees quarterback picture is suddenly worth watching well beyond this weekend, and Alabama is part of the reason why. With Faizon Brandon still dealing with a lingering shoulder injury, George MacIntyre is lined up to make his first career start against Arkansas after already helping Tennessee to a win when he stepped in for Brandon in a recent game.
What happens next could shape the Volunteers approach when they line up against Alabama on October 17. If Brandon is healthy again, Tennessee will still have a decision to make, but MacIntyres showing as the starter now could make the choice a much tougher one than it looked a week ago. [Read more 🡒]