Auburn Can Show Progress Against Georgia Without Pulling Off an Upset

The Auburn Tigers have plenty of mistakes to correct coming out of their bye week, but unfortunately, they're going to have to show that improvement against the best team in the country.

Following Saturday's victory over Alabama, Georgia enters this weekend's matchup against Auburn as the No. 1 team in college football.

And looking at what the Bulldogs have accomplished offensively this season, I'm not sure there's a more difficult opponent for Auburn to face coming out of its bye week.

Georgia ranks 35th nationally with 263 passing yards per game, 29th nationally and fourth in the SEC with 211.8 rushing yards per game, and 16th nationally with 474.8 total yards of offense per contest.

That rushing number is particularly concerning.

Auburn has struggled to stop opposing rushing attacks over its last two games, allowing Florida's Jadan Baugh to rush for 162 yards before Tennessee found success attacking the outside with DeSean Bishop.

And now the Tigers have to face one of the SEC's most productive rushing offenses.

That's not exactly an ideal situation for DJ Durkin's defense.

So how exactly are we supposed to determine whether Auburn had a successful bye week?

Alex Golesh had two weeks to address the offensive penalties, inconsistent play-calling, questionable special teams decisions, and defensive mistakes that contributed to Auburn's 24-14 loss to Tennessee.

Those problems need to improve regardless of the opponent.

But there's also a difference between correcting mistakes and being talented enough to consistently execute against Georgia.

Auburn's offensive line isn't suddenly going to become one of the SEC's best units because it had an extra week of practice.

And even if the Tigers improve defensively, Georgia has enough offensive talent to move the football against just about anybody.

That's why I don't think the final score should be the only measurement of Auburn's progress.

I'm going to be watching whether the Tigers can avoid the false starts that plagued them against Tennessee, establish some consistency with their running backs, and give Byrum Brown opportunities without depending on him to create everything himself.

Defensively, I want to see Auburn adjust when Georgia finds something that works, especially in the running game.

And I want to see whether younger players continue receiving meaningful opportunities as Golesh builds toward the future.

Auburn might make improvements in several of those areas and still lose by multiple possessions.

That wouldn't necessarily mean the bye week was wasted.

But if Auburn comes out making the same preventable mistakes, struggling with communication and failing to adjust defensively, that's a different conversation.

Georgia is going to expose Auburn's weaknesses.

The question is whether Golesh's staff has done enough over the last two weeks to stop making those weaknesses even worse.