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I post this every season, changing only a few items within the post to update records and the season in review, but it essentially remains unchanged from year-to-year. Obviously, it's got a UGA slant, but it's the thought that counts...
Playing Auburn is like playing your brother.
We've known each other for all our lives and grew up fighting with
each other. When one had a chance to do something good, the other
would come in and ruin everything, and that went both ways. While I
truly loathe Auburn, I do respect them for being the other participant
in this historical rivalry for so many years. It really is like
playing your own brother. I've heard several Auburn fans over the
years claim to have the exact same respect for Georgia, even though
they hate our guts just as much as we hate theirs. They respect us for
being one of the only "big" schools to consistently play them in
Auburn over the years without making a huge fuss over it and they also
recognize the history involved when our two teams meet on the football
field. It’s the South’s oldest rivalry...and you can bet there’s
always something riding on this game.
Not only is Georgia-Auburn a great, important rivalry, but it is one
of the closest rivalries anywhere in any sport. When two teams can
play 112 times and only be separated by a grand total of 49 points
scored in the series and a series record separated by only two games,
it certainly takes the cake as far as being one of the closest
rivalries...as I mentioned, in any sport at any level.
Many things have been at stake when Georgia and Auburn have played
each other over the years. Some games have been more important than
others. In so many games, this particular rivalry has decided SEC
Championships, winning seasons, winning streak stoppers and even
sometimes it has even had national championship implications. There
may be seven older rivalries than Georgia-Auburn, but there is no
rivalry out there in college football played as many times with so
much being on the line. The Georgia-Auburn rivalry is what started the
lifeblood known as college football in Dixie, and it is strong as
ever, even here in 2009. As has been the case so many times before,
there will be a lot on the line come Saturday night.
For Auburn, this game is all about growing. Under first year head
coach Gene Chizik, the Tigers started out with a 5-0 record, but have
recently encountered a little turbulence that saw them drop three
straight conference games to Arkansas, LSU and Kentucky. While the
Tigers have a history of coming into this game with division and
conference championship implications on the line, that is not the case
this season as Alabama wrapped up the SEC West with their win this
past weekend against LSU. However, don’t expect that to put a damper
on Auburn’s enthusiasm for the last two games of their season:
Georgia and Alabama. While the season has been surprisingly good for
them in some ways, it has also had its fair share of
disappointments...however, the past couple of weeks have seen this
Auburn team get back on the winning track and you can rest assured
that the fan base in the “loveliest village on the plains” will be
satisfied with wins over their two biggest rivals at the end of the
season. The defense for Auburn hasn’t been up to their normal tough
standards this year, but where the Tigers have excelled so far this
season is on the offensive side of the ball. They currently rank at
the very top of the SEC in total offense. This is a little different
than the gritty, tough defensive-oriented Auburn teams we are used to
seeing in this series. Auburn is playing for first-year success under
Chizik as well as bowl placement. With a couple of wins to end their
season, the Tigers could finish with a 9-3 record and be in line for a
New Year’s Day bowl game…something that not many around the nation
thought possible for this team in 2009. They not only have that to
play for, but they once again have a chance to throw salt on the wound
of their old, brotherly rival Georgia. No team has ruined more dream
seasons for Georgia than Auburn...and while this year may not be the
most memorable for Georgia fans, an Auburn win could certainly
exacerbate and prolong the suffering in Athens. While Auburn hasn’t
fared so well on the road this season, they do have an impressive
record against Georgia in Sanford Stadium. Auburn owns a 7-3 record
in the last 10 games against Georgia played in Sanford Stadium.
Although the last game played between these two in Athens saw
Georgia’s original “Black Out” (and to this point, the only successful
Georgia “Black Out”) and a 45-20 Bulldog victory, Auburn has fared
well in recent years on the road against the Dawgs. So, Auburn comes
into this game with Georgia with a lot on the line. Their own
championship hopes may not exactly be intact, but the Tigers are still
playing for a whole heck of a lot...not to mention simple bragging
rights for the next 365 days. We may as well mention that Auburn has
a bit of a revenge factor working in its favor this year after Georgia
has come out the winner in the last three games played in this series.
There is a lot on the line for Auburn on Saturday.
Georgia plays to save face on Saturday. So many times before, the
Georgia-Auburn game has been played with championship implications for
the Dawgs...be they division titles or SEC titles. This Saturday,
however, Georgia is simply trying to make something out of a season
which has, to this point, been very disappointing. Gone are
superstars Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno and Mohammed
Massaquoi...three players that definitely had memorable games against
Auburn. In come a group of players not only trying to make it
four-in-a-row over the Tigers, but a team that is trying to salvage a
season over their final three games. So often, this game is one of
the biggest games Georgia has been a part of since the "Glory Days" of
the early 80's. Georgia won the division title in 2002 for the first
time since the SEC split in 1992. That win came against these Auburn
Tigers. In 2002, Georgia finally broke through the barrier and once
again established itself as a champion. The following year, Georgia
won the division with a win over the Auburn Tigers. In 2004, the
Dawgs faced a very good, undefeated Auburn team and despite the fact
the Georgia wasn’t in control of its own destiny as far as the SEC
race went, the loss to Auburn in 2004 eliminated them from contention
all together. In 2005, Georgia met Auburn with a chance to clinch the
SEC Eastern division title and just missed out as Auburn won a
thrilling 31-30 contest in Athens. This year, the game takes on a
different feeling all together...but championships or no
championships, the rivalry always remains a focal point. It’s late in
the season for Georgia’s program to be thinking about becoming bowl
eligible, but with a win over Auburn, the Dawgs lock up eligibility
with a chance to improve their status with wins the following weeks
against Kentucky and Georgia Tech. It’s not necessarily the season
Georgia folks had in mind, but if there was a “must win” for Georgia
so far this year, my guess is that this game would be it. Georgia has
had some great success over the course of the past decade and find
themselves in a down year here in 2009. A win over a longtime rival
like Auburn that clinched bowl eligibility might be just the thing the
team needs to finish strong and end the year on a positive note. A win
over Auburn won't win a division for Georgia. A win over Auburn won’t
win the conference for Georgia. A win over Auburn will only put the
Dawgs two games over .500 ten games into the season...but when you
take into account the fact that a win could give this team a positive
outlook for the final part of the 2009 season and a chance to improve
their bowl position, you have to know that the players and coaches
know what this game means. Besides, let’s face it...it’s Auburn.
Georgia could be without a win going into this game and a victory over
the Tigers would be cause for celebration and something to shoot for.
We haven’t been playing each other since 1892 for nothing.
There is a lot on the line for Georgia on Saturday.
Many times since 2002, the road to the Georgia Dome has gone through
Athens for the teams in the SEC East. However, in this season, the
team that calls Athens home is scraping and clawing just to gain a
little bit of respect...and once again, like so many times in years
past, the obstacle is Auburn. As it stands going into this game, the
Tigers are the ones standing in the way of Georgia being eligible for
a bowl invitation.
In 1982, Larry Munson begged and pleaded the Georgia Bulldogs to
"hunker down one more time" and was drenched with a bourbon and Coke
thrown by an Auburn fan next to the Georgia radio booth:
"Georgia leading 19-14, needing a play of some kind, a break of
some kind. Hunker Down you guys! Dawgs are in a 6...actually only 4
standing, they're in a 6-4. They pitch it to Bo Jackson, one man
knocked him off balance, and we came up and got him...Ball back on the
21, and it's 2nd down now and 17, with 2:05 to go, Auburn trying to
break our hearts. 19-14 and the Dawgs lead. Again you guys, Hunker
Down! Auburn up to the line...Carver got him from behind! Back on the
30!...Oh man! 2 big plays, 84 seconds...3rd down and 21. Auburn back
on the 30. Watch this now. I hate to keep saying it, but Hunker Down!
You didn't hear me you guys. Hunker Down!...Pass complete to the
21...Timeout Auburn. Timeout 49 seconds left...4th and 17, I know I'm
asking a lot you guys, but hunker it down one more time!...Pass into
the endzone...and the Dawgs broke it up! They broke it up! They broke
it up! The Dawgs with 42 seconds...I won't ask you to do that again
you guys...32 seconds, Lastinger up to the line...Lastinger falls back
on the 16...Georgia students and fans standing and roaring...23, 22,
21 clock running, running...Oh, look at the sugar falling out of the
sky! Look at the sugar falling out of the sky! Here comes a Georgia
fan running out across the field. And now everybody
roars...3...2...1...and they're carrying Vince Dooley off the field.
Dawgs have won it. Somebody threw something on us. Dawgs have won it
19-14. The defense hunkered this thing...we saved ourselves...we saved
ourselves...there won’t be many of us in Opelika tonight, but I’ll
tell you one thing, we’re going do something to Opelika. Dawgs a
winner, 19-14."
After the Dawgs had clinched that victory over Auburn 19-14 to win the
SEC and send them to the Sugar Bowl, Munson told the Dawgs that he
wouldn't ask them to do it again...but 27 long years have passed and
we find ourselves facing the same opponent with a lot on the line. We
need one more thing and it's the exact same thing we needed way back
in 1982. Even though Larry said he wouldn't ask them to do it again,
we all need the Dawgs to "hunker down one more time" against the
Auburn Tigers.
As has happened so often throughout the history of these two proud,
storied and elder southern colleges, one team stands in the way of the
other's hopes and dreams and goals. As a matter of fact, we stand in
each other's way.
Auburn needs to beat Georgia. Georgia needs to beat Auburn.
Somehow, that's the only way it should be in the south’s oldest rivalry.
GO DAWGS!
BEAT AUBURN!
