Bulldogs face tough challenge of playing Auburn at Auburn

ATHENS, Ga. — Strange things often happen when the Georgia Bulldogs make the trip down I-85 South to play Auburn in the South’s oldest rivalry at Jordan-Hare stadium.

Touchdown passes at the buzzer, deflected passes landing in the wrong hands and busted plays are all hallmarks of a series that both fan bases take seriously and often are a deciding factor in the chase for the SEC Championship.

The second-ranked Bulldogs are a prohibitive favorite going into Saturday’s game against the Tigers on the strength of their 5-0 record and a defense playing at near-record levels of efficiency.

Get ready for the South’s oldest rivalry with an all-new Bulldogs GameDay airing Saturday at 11 a.m. Don’t miss interviews with Kirby Smart plus analysis from Aaron Murray and Thomas Davis.

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Georgia dominated Arkansas 37-0 last weekend while Auburn staged a late comeback rally to down LSU 24-19 in Baton Rouge.

Much like this past weekend, the Bulldogs staring quarterback remains in question. J.T. Daniels is still nursing a strained lat muscle and has not been able to throw the ball. Steady Stetson Bennett IV started against Arkansas and is ready to go if Coach Kirby Smart calls on him.

Auburn has had their fair share of quarterback issues as well. Bo Nix was benched two weeks ago after a poor performance vs. Georgia State.

Nix removed some of the questions over his status by going 23 for 44 with 255 yards and a touchdown passing while running for 74 yards and another score.

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If Bennett ends up behind center for Georgia, expect another heavy dose of rushing the ball. The Dawgs ran the ball 56 times for 273 yards vs. Arkansas while Bennett only threw 11 passes the entire game.

Georgia’s defense has given up 23 points in their first five games with the only touchdown coming late in the South Carolina game when the defense was mostly reserve players.

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Jordan-Hare will be packed to the gills with 90,000-plus screaming fans and it is one of the toughest stadiums in college football for visitors to play in.

The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m.

Tune in to WSB Tonight at 11 p.m. Saturday night for highlights and analysis of the game.

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