Auburn football has had an 0-2 start to the SEC portion of its schedule, a start that is less-than ideal.
The Tigers were tasked with taking on two top 12 opponents on the road to open the season in Oklahoma and Texas A&M. One of the biggest roadblocks for Auburn to find success was its inability to stay ahead of the chains.
Head coach Hugh Freeze emphasized the importance of the Tigers doing so if they want to pick up their first SEC win of the season against No. 10 Georgia at home this weekend.
"We obviously either didn’t coach well enough to execute or just not good schematical plays," Freeze said. "So we’ve studied it all. We got to find a way to stay ahead of the chains and, again, playing at home does make what we want to do a little bit easier, but you’re playing against defenses like (Texas) A&M, Georgia and Oklahoma, you still have to execute really well and have a game plan."
Staying ahead of the chains will be even more important this week, as Georgia will present Auburn with the biggest defensive challenge it has seen so far this season.
Freeze highlighted the talent the Bulldogs have all over the field, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
“I think their ability to adjust," Freeze said. "I think if you look at how they go about adjusting, they are still very talented. I mean, those linebackers are as good as you’re going to see. The secondary is very talented. They’re big up front. Maybe not as twitchy as some that you’ve seen. But boy, they play their technique extremely well. They’re deep."
Another thing that makes Georgia tough to handle is head coach Kirby Smart.
"I have played Kirby a long time, and you hurt them with a play, you can be assured that they’ll have an answer for the next time," Freeze said. "And they’ll have some kind of twist, obviously, that we haven’t seen that will be prepared for us, but they’ve certainly put themselves in the position to win most of their games."
Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT at Jordan-Hare Stadium on Saturday and ESPN will carry the broadcast.