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Georgia opens as two-score favorite on road at Auburn

Palmber-Thombsby: Palmer Thombs09/24/23palmerthombs

An opening line for Georgia-Auburn is out. According to Circa Sports, the Bulldogs are 14-point favorites over the Tigers in the 128th meeting of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

Georgia enters the matchup at 4-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the country. Auburn, albeit coming off of a loss this past Saturday at Texas A&M, will have the home crowd on its side and excitement surrounding first-year head coach Hugh Freeze. Saturday will serve as Georgia’s first game away from home this season.

“I would not want to draw it up that way. I really believe in playing at a neutral site or getting a road game but there’s not a lot of control I have over that either,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Saturday after his team’s 49-21 victory over UAB. “It will be one hell of an environment. They do an incredible job with their fan base. It’s one of the places I think I’ve coached there more than any other location outside of here and Tuscaloosa. Because I always went there here and I always went there there.”

“It’s just an incredible environment. Their fan base is second to none,” he continued. “They’re believing and they’ve got a new coach and a new energy and they’re doing a really good job. It will be tough. We have to prepare that way and hope our players acknowledge that.”

Consider Carson Beck as one that has already acknowledged the challenge that will be Jordan-Hare Stadium. While he’ll be making his first career road start on Saturday, he was with the team last time they traveled to The Plains in 2021, watching as Stetson Bennett threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns on 14-of-21 passing in a 34-10 win over the Tigers.

Wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who Georgia hopes to get back in the near future, won SEC Offensive Player of the Week as he was on the receiving end of Bennett’s passes five times, totaling 135 yards and a touchdown. Running back Zamir White punched it into the end zone twice while Nakobe Dean forced the lone turnover of the day with an interception of Auburn quarterback Bo Nix.

“On the road next week in the SEC at Auburn, I’m super excited about that,” Beck said. “I think it’ll be a good test for us and another chance for us to start to kind of find our identity.”

“It’s always a little bit different going on the road. It’s a different schedule, we have to travel and get on a plane. I think we’ll handle it well. We’ll get in there Sunday and start preparing.”

A couple of players that have been tested by the road atmospheres before are also aware and ready to share with their teammates what the challenge is like. Tight end Brock Bowers knows it’ll be loud while defensive leaders Jamon Dumas-Johnson and Kamari Lassiter get a bit of a break from the noise since the home team will be on offense, something that should help with the communication.

Kickoff time for Saturday between the Bulldogs and Tigers is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS as the SEC Game of the Week. Georgia has won six straight in the series dating back to the 2017 SEC Championship Game matchup with a spot in the College Football Playoffs on the line.

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