The Auburn Tigers have their biggest contest of the season so far coming up this week, as they prepare to host No. 10 Georgia.

Auburn is coming into this matchup after dropping its last two, both road games against top 12 opponents. The Tigers' offensive line struggled in both games, but head coach Hugh Freeze is doing what he can to put the unit in a position to get the job done against Georgia.

“(Izavion Miller) will probably get some more rotation, for sure, but protection-wise, you can’t get in third-and-long constantly," Freeze said during his Monday press conference. "I know you watch other games, and it’s just not going to work out. The first thing we have to do is not create penalties that put us in those positions, that allow us to get the ball out quicker with the quick game and things where we don’t have to constantly throw the ball down the field or depend on a draw or something to try to create an explosive play in those situations where you don’t want to, again, put your defense in another disadvantage situation."

Freeze has been stressing his desire for the unit to "strain more," and he emphasized the importance of it once again this week.

Holding off Georgia's pass rush needs to be done for Auburn to have a chance of pulling off the upset.

"So again, the pass protection, can we strain more? Sure," Freeze said. "We’re not going to win those one-on-ones all of the time in those situations when they know what you have to do, nor are a lot of other teams. The teams that are successful on third downs are the teams that are winning first down and staying ahead of the chains. Yes, we can work on technique. Yes, we can work on our backs protecting better and using our tight ends, but the bottom line, let’s don’t get in those situations too much where they don’t have to be where the defense has their ears pinned back, constantly coming after us.”

Additionally, Freeze addressed the hearing issue of offensive lineman Xavier Chaplin. Freeze and the staff are doing everything possible to help him overcome it and play the level of football he has shown he is capable of.

“We’ve done some testing on his hearing, and there’s an issue there," Freeze said. "That goes back to us, we should’ve handled the cadence stuff differently for him, but he really struggles to hear in those environments, and we’ll make adjustments for that. When he’s on time off the ball, he’s pretty dang good. Nobody hurts more than him. He was really distraught. I wish that we would’ve put him in a better position.”

If the Tigers want to put an end to their extensive losing streak against Georgia, it will need to start with a strong showing from their offensive line. That is likely the only way an upset will be possible.

Kickoff between Auburn and Georgia is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and ESPN will carry the broadcast.