Auburn didn’t wait long to tilt the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. On the opening snap against Georgia, Tigers linebacker Elijah Melendez made his presence felt on Gunner Stockton, and the quarterback never quite looked right after that. Auburn eventually pulled out a 27-24 win on Alex McPherson’s 34-yard field goal as time expired, but the way the game turned early is what will stick.
Stockton briefly left the game after the five-yard designed quarterback run, then came back. Georgia turned to backup Ryan Puglisi in the meantime, and he delivered a spark with a few completions, including a 41-yard strike to Craig Dandridge. Even so, Stockton’s night never really recovered.
He finished with two interceptions and then gave the ball away with just over a minute remaining while the game was tied at 24, setting up Auburn’s winning drive. Afterward, Kirby Smart said Stockton was dealing with a stinger.
“He had a stinger in his shoulder, which numbs your shoulder,” Smart said during his presser. “But that happens a lot in football, and you come back from that.
But they were checking him for a concussion and things. They checked him out and brought him back in and said he was cleared.”
Melendez was everywhere for Auburn. He racked up nine tackles, added a sack, and came away with one of Stockton’s interceptions in a performance that carried major weight for a defense missing Xavier Atkins.
That absence had been viewed as a serious blow, but Melendez stepped into the spotlight and made sure Auburn’s second level held firm. He had been seen as the co-headliner alongside Atkins, yet this was the kind of night that changes how a defense is viewed. With Atkins suspended, Melendez looked like the clear alpha.
Whether Atkins eventually returns or not, Auburn got a glimpse of what this unit can look like when Melendez takes over. And if Stockton doesn’t shake off what happened in Athens, this was more than just a big individual game for Melendez. It could end up being one of the moments that shapes the season.
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Auburn Has A Real Chance To Make Georgia Sweat
Auburn heads into its matchup with Georgia carrying the kind of underdog profile that can make a favorite uncomfortable, at least on paper. SportsLines 1,000 simulations point to the Tigers covering the spread nearly 60 percent of the time, a nod to a game model that sees Auburn in better shape than the oddsmakers do. The Tigers are also coming off a bye week, and the projections lean toward a lower-scoring game in which Auburns rushing attack could look sharper.
There are still obvious hurdles to clear in Athens, starting with Georgias home dominance under Kirby Smart and Auburns own personnel hit after linebacker Xavier Atkins was suspended. But the simulation results suggest this might be more than a routine road spot for the Tigers, especially if they can control tempo and make the game play out on their terms. The question now is whether Auburn can turn that theoretical edge into the kind of performance that forces Georgia into a real fight. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Faces A Brutal Early Test In Athens Under Alex Golesh
Auburn heads into one of the toughest assignments on its schedule Saturday, when the Tigers travel to Athens for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff against No. 1 Georgia on ESPN. The matchup brings the usual rivalry pressure, but this one also arrives with the Bulldogs again looking like the more complete team, and with Auburn beat writers pointing to the gap in talent and Georgias recent control of the series.
Still, the bye week gives Auburn a little extra time to sort through its issues before walking into Sanford Stadium, and that was a recurring part of the discussion in the staff predictions. Even with Georgias edge and Auburns uneven season so far, there is at least some belief that a better-prepared Tigers team can make the trip more competitive than the matchup on paper might suggest. [Read more 🡒]
Auburn Faces The SEC Test That Could Change Everything
Week 7 brings the kind of SEC slate that can reshape an October in a hurry, and Auburn is right in the middle of it with a trip to face Georgia drawing plenty of attention. Around the league, five analysts have weighed in on eight upcoming conference matchups, underscoring how much uncertainty still hangs over the race and how thin the margin is in games like Auburn-Georgia, Alabama-Tennessee and Missouri-Ole Miss.
For Auburn, the matchup is about more than just another prediction column. It is the sort of test that can alter the conversation around the Tigers in a hurry, because every SEC weekend seems to carry extra weight and every pick comes with a built-in argument. The forecasts are only opinions, of course, but they reflect the stakes well enough: Auburn is heading into one of those Saturdays where the result can change how the rest of the season feels. [Read more 🡒]