Auburn Daily Roundtable: Deep South's Oldest Rivalry Edition

Some of the Auburn Daily staff chimes in on Auburn's chances in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry.

Another week, another roundtable. 

This week, Auburn heads to the Tigers' first road game of the young season against the Georgia Bulldogs. Robby Ashford will be making his first road start of his college career and how he responds will be a massive part of how the game develops for both teams. 

Auburn fans want to see more of Tank Bigsby as the game flow develops into the second half. That topic is brought up in this week's roundtable as some Auburn Daily staff members share how they would like to see the elite running back be used in the offense in the Deep South's oldest rivalry. 

Should Auburn be a four-touchdown underdog in Athens this weekend?

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Zac Blackerby: I understand why it's the line but I have Auburn covering the 29.5-point spread listed by most books. It's a ton of points for a rivalry game and with the way Auburn's defense could match up with Georgia's offense, I think it slows Georgia down for a decent chunk of the game. 

Lance Dawe: Yes. The offense has no identity, the defense is lackluster in several spots, and despite the confusing 26-22 win over Missouri last week, Georgia still matches up extremely well at the skill position spots in my opinion.

Jeremy Robuck: I think so. Yes, Georgia struggled against Missouri last week, but they have beaten Auburn thoroughly in the last few meetings in Athens. This is Ashford’s first road start. I think 4 is about right.

Lindsay Crosby: I honestly don't think Auburn would normally cover a 4-td spread - the only reason I even hesitate is that Ashford hit some deep passes/chunk plays last week. However, with Brandon Council giving UGA bulletin board material, Auburn's not covering.

Jack Singley: Yes, there is no evidence that Auburn's offense will be able to put up a respectable amount of points against the Georgia defense. The defense will also lack a key edge rusher and will have to deal with the best OL they’ve faced all season.

How do you think Auburn will try to get Tank Bigsby involved against Georgia?

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

ZB: Use him to stretch the field laterally. Bubble screens, swing passes, pre-snap motion. Of course use him in between the tackles as well. No matter how you swing it, give him 20 touches. 

LD: They won't effectively. They can't. Unless they're calling texas routes for Ashford to roll away from and hit downfield, or lining up Bigsby out wide for screens or something of that nature, Auburn isn't getting Bigsby involved. Well, they can get him touches on the ground but it will produce nothing (despite what Brandon Council believes).

JR: I believe Auburn will try to get Tank involved in the screen game. Unfortunately, I believe Georgia views Auburn as their biggest rival, and therefore tends to play really hard and focused against them. I don’t think what Auburn does try to get Tank involved will work.

LC: I have zero faith that Auburn tries anything new with the ground game this week against Georgia, and even if they did, I don't expect it to work. (Would love to see Tank on some wheel routes, though)

JS: Scheme him open similar to the way Jarquez was used last weekend. Though Bigsby had struggled with pass-catching this season, the ability to get him out in space will be crucial against a stellar defense.

Outside of Western Kentucky, which game do you think Auburn is most likely to win this season?

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ZB: Texas A&M. That's about it. 

LD: Arkansas. The Hogs' defense is simply not good. Robby's ability to extend plays and be explosive downfield will cause problems for that Arkansas secondary. Am I predicting a win? No, because the Tigers don't know what second-half adjustments are. But if there was a game to pick (outside of A&M), it would be Arkansas.

JR: The Arkansas game is at home, and the razorbacks have taken some losses lately. I believe the Auburn defense is capable of giving the team a chance to win in this game.

LC: Auburn will surprise someone at home, probably Arkansas. I can see Auburn's pass rush getting to KJ.

JS: Texas A&M: They haven’t found an offensive scheme and they’ve proven to be susceptible to both the run and pass on defense.

Winner of the week?

Eric Starling/Auburn Daily

ZB: Robby Ashford. Despite the loss, his performances showed me enough that he can be a really solid player before he leaves Auburn. 

LD: Camden Brown, for scoring his first career Auburn touchdown. I'm looking forward to watching his development.

JR: Alex McPherson. Anders Carlson continued to struggle on Saturday after hitting only 66% of his kicks last year. McPherson, who was the number 1 kicker in the nation coming out of high school, could get some early playing time.

LC: I think our men's golf team is pretty good right now?

JS: Bo Nix, the former Auburn quarterback had an outstanding showing in week 5. Running and passing for 2 tds each and racking up 302 yards total against the Stanford Cardinal.

Score predictions for Auburn vs GeorgiaMessage #roundtable

Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports

ZB: Auburn 13, Georgia 38

LD: Does anyone really think the Bulldogs won't get up for this game? It's a rivalry matchup following a down week. UGA will hit Auburn in the mouth early and they won't look back. Georgia 49, Auburn 6

JR: Auburn 0 vs Georgia 31. Athens is a tough place to play for Auburn. If the Tigers don’t score on their first drive, it could get ugly fast.

LC: 41-10, UGA

JS: 56-6 Georgia. Auburn hasn’t won in Athens in almost 2 decades. 2005 was the last time the Tigers came into Athens and left with a win. That combined with it being Robby Ashford’s first road test the signs don’t look favorable for Auburn.1

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