Georgia vs Auburn: Brotherly Hate

“It’s a unique thing. It’s like playing against your brother”

-Pat Dye

For the first time since 1987, Georgia has a chance to take the lead in the all-time series versus their hated rival, Auburn.

Georgia has won seven out of the last nine matchups with Auburn, but the last two Auburn wins in the series have led to the Tigers appearing in the National Championship game.

These are two programs who, for a long time, were considered to be very similar in a multitude of ways. Graduates from both schools have appeared on the opposite sidelines throughout the history of this rivalry which is now tied at 55 wins per school. Legendary coaches from each school graduated from the opposite; Vince Dooley, the Auburn graduate, is Georgia’s all-time wins leader while the former Georgia All-American, Pat Dye, won 99 games as the Tiger head coach from 1981-1992.

The 2015 edition of this rivalry will be no different in that sense. Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp is a former Georgia player while Bulldog defensive line coach Tracy Rocker was a two-time All-American and college football hall of famer at Auburn.

The rivalry, that at one time was considered to be a game between “dueling brothers,” has turned into something completely different over the last decade. While Florida and Georgia Tech rightfully remain the top two rivals for the University of Georgia, Auburn has become perhaps the most hated. The feeling is mutual from the Auburn side.

Sure, the play on the field has plenty to do with the rise of hatred in both camps, but the competition off the field has as much to do with it as the competition on the field. With recruiting becoming a year-round process nowadays, especially within the SEC, these two schools are now battling each other for 12 months a year rather than just one weekend in mid-November. Of course, the ongoing battles in the homes and hearts of recruits across the south has recently led to some memorable moments “between the hedges” and “on the plains.”

In 2007, #10 Georgia sported black jerseys for the first time in modern history when they welcomed the #17 ranked Auburn Tigers to Sanford Stadium. Georgia went on to win 45-20 in what is simply known to Georgia fans as “The Blackout.”

In 2010, Auburn defeated Georgia by a score of 49-31 en route to a National Championship behind Heisman winning quarterback Cam Newton and All-American defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Fairley, who made is hatred of Georgia known in the days leading up to the game, added new life to the rivalry by administering a late hit “spear” to Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray. The penalty, which caused Murray to lay on the ground for minutes after the play, nearly caused a brawl between the two teams.

Via: DawgPost

And then, there was 2013, two years ago in Auburn, Alabama. In perhaps the wildest, most entertaining, and most unpredictable game in series history, The Tigers completed a “hail mary” with 36 seconds remaining to solidify a 43-38 win that became known as “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare.”

Auburn led by 20 points with 9:36 remaining in the game before Murray and the Bulldogs scored three touchdowns in just over seven minutes. Georgia would take its first lead of the contest with 1:36 left in the final quarter. Facing a fourth-and-18 from its own 26, Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall threw the prayer that sent Jordan Hare into pandemonium. Coincidentally, Marshall was a former Bulldog defensive back.

This brings us to 2015. The game, set to kickoff on CBS at 11am local time, doesn’t quite have the gusto that some of the other matchups have had leading up to kick but that won’t mean much come Saturday. Mostly due to both teams having an SEC October to forget, each school (and perhaps more intensely, each fan base) is desperate to send the other reeling into December.

As always, the game will last only a few hours, but the outcome will have an impact for the next few months. For the losing coach, a warm seat will become scorching. For the losing players, a trip to a less than desirable bowl game will be inevitable. And for the losing program, a lot of explaining will be required to high profile recruits considering both Auburn and Georgia.

Regardless of the outcome, the result of this game will only serve as a reminder that while many in the rivalry refer to this as a clash between family, pitting brother versus brother, the siblings seem to be liking each other less and less as the years roll by.

Three coaching candidates to replace Mark Richt

Mark Richt is still the football coach at the University of Georgia. Although Richt’s job is safe in my opinion, many national writers including Bruce Feldman, Dennis Dodd, and others have said that his seat is hotter than some would suggest. For what it’s worth, I’m of the mindset that Richt has run his course at Georgia and it is indeed time to part ways with the Bulldog coach of 15 years.

The obvious question that most fans have regarding the coaching situation at Georgia is “who would replace Richt?” Again, Richt seems likely to stay, but if Georgia were to part ways with him, they would need to be certain that they can land a coach who will be better. That’s easier said than done. A new coach at Georgia would need to be able to do two things that Richt has, at times, done with great success.

First, any new coach at the University of Georgia must be able to recruit the peach state to perfection. With the number of four and five-star recruits exiting this state every season, UGA is in a prime location to reload every February. A new coach wouldn’t necessarily have to be a “Georgia man” per say, but he would have to be able to connect with in-state high school talent.

Secondly, whoever Georgia chooses, he would have to be able to balance the expectations at UGA while managing the strict (by SEC standards) academic and disciplinary standards that the school upholds. Georgia is one of the only schools in the conference with a mandatory one-game suspension for marijuana-related infractions. It is rules like this that some coaches wouldn’t want to deal with. I’m looking at you Jimbo Fisher.

Here’s my list of three potential replacements for Mark Richt. These are not based on anything except my feeling that each of these guys would “fit” at Georgia based on their personalities and coaching talent. To be clear, I’m not suggesting any of these coaches will be probable candidates, but they would all be great choices.

1. Brian Kelly- Notre Dame
Kelly would be a huge “get” for Georgia. His ability to recruit the state of Georgia from schools like Central Michigan, Cincinnati, and now Notre Dame prove he is capable of keeping Georgia’s recruiting successes going. Kelly has had to deal with strict regulations at Notre Dame and still managed to play in a National Championship game. Everett Golson, the former Notre Dame quarterback who was kicked out of school for academic reasons, actually graduated from the school. Yet, the school more or less forced Kelly and the Irish to move on without their star QB. This is the kind of act that Kelly would likely not have to deal with at Georgia. Winning is important at Notre Dame and winning is important at Georgia. However, the conduct standards at Georgia, while strict compared to SEC schools, do not compare to the rigorous academic standards that could easily hinder winning at Notre Dame.

2. Kliff Kingsbury- Texas Tech
Called the “Ryan Gosling” of college football, the Red Raider head coach has revamped the Texas Tech program in a few short years at the helm. Kingsbury would certainly be a hire for Georgia that would shock the entire college football world most notably because he is a major proponent of the spread “run-n-gun” offense. Obviously, Georgia has traditionally ran the pro-style offenses throughout Mark Richt’s tenure. But a change at head coach (regardless of the coach) almost always means a change in philosophy. Perhaps a change in offensive strategy is exactly what Georgia needs to spark the program. And although Ryan Gosling was horrendous at corner back in Remember The Titans, the guy gets his. Like Gosling, when it comes to scoring points, the 36-year-old Kingsbury gets his.

3. Mike Bobo- Colorado State
I know, I know. This name still haunts lots of Georgia fans simply because those fans probably have a vendetta against the draw play, Bobo’s signature play call while in Athens. Despite his having pissed many Georgia fans off throughout his time as Georgia’s offensive coordinator, Bobo recruited the hell out of this state while seeing his offenses average over 40 points a game multiple times. With Bobo would come familiarity. He’s familiar with the state, the program, the donors, the players, the fans, and the rigors of an SEC schedule. He wouldn’t be a “splashy” hire by any means, but if Georgia wants a guy who can develop quarterbacks, there are few better than Bobo. It just so happens that a guy named Jacob Eason is set to matriculate to Georgia this January. Perhaps Bobo and Eason could combine for magic in 2016 and beyond.

2015 SEC Football Predictions

The SEC football season will begin 2015 the way they have so many others, at the top of college football. Of course, I don’t mean to say that the SEC is on top of the preseason AP Poll, because Ohio State and TCU are one and two respectively in that poll. Instead, I mean that the SEC is once again littering the poll with its teams.

10 out of the top 27 teams in the country play in the SEC, including three out of the top nine in Alabama (3), Auburn (6), and Georgia (9). But, while the teams in the SEC are easily placed into a national poll, they aren’t so easily ranked inside of their own conference. That’s exactly what I’ll try to do.

Preseason Awards

Offensive Player of the Year: Nick Chubb (RB-UGA)
Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (DE-Texas A&M)

The East

1. Georgia
2. Tennessee
3. Florida
4. Kentucky
5. Missouri
6. South Carolina
7. Vanderbilt

Lets just get this out of the way: the Eastern division of the SEC is the worst it has been in a very, very long time. The consensus pick (worth very little) has been Georgia really since the end of last football season. However, UGA may have more questions than anyone else in this division. A new quarterback in Greyson Lambert, new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, and a rebuilding wide receiver unit has the Bulldog offense full of questions heading into the Fall. Having Nick Chubb should balance those questions out however.

Tennessee is the team “on the rise” and for good reason. Butch Jones has got the UT program going through the right process to return to the spotlight and this season is a big step in that process. Florida scares me because A.) I picked them to win the east last season and that turned out terrible. B.) A new coach combined with a so-so quarterback (Treon Harris) is not a recipe for success in my book.

Out of all of the teams in the east, I really like Kentucky to improve the most this season. Patrick Towles is a star at the QB position but he just hasn’t had the help to truly shine in Lexington. This year he does. Returning his top two RB’s and four offensive linemen, third year head coach Mark Stoops (7-17 first two years) has his team heading in the right direction. I like the Wildcats to win 7-8 games this season and if they can get a couple of things to go their way, it could be more.

The West

1. Alabama
2. Auburn
3. Arkansas
4. LSU
5. Mississippi
6. Texas A&M
7. Mississippi State

Every single team in the West was ranked in the top-27 by the preseason AP voters. While the East is going to be shaky at best this season, the West is loaded as usual. The classic powers of Alabama, Auburn, and LSU are very similar this year. They are all uber-talented, but lack a solid and dependable QB option, for now. All three schools have talented quarterbacks preparing to start for their schools, but none of the signal-callers have done anything of merit in SEC game-play. I may not be going out on a limb here, but whichever QB can start the fastest in September, his team will have a leg up in the division.

Arkansas is the most underrated team in the SEC. Yeah, I said it. The Hogs are more talented than people in the South are giving them credit for, but besides that, they are about as experienced as you can be in this era of college football. Brandon Allen returns as the schools first three-year starter since Matt Jones (2000-2002). The offensive line returns four starters to protect Allen and All-SEC running back Alex Collins.

Texas A&M and the two Mississippi schools are tough to predict. The Aggies may have the best skill players in the country as a group, but they have many questions everywhere else which makes it difficult to project. Mississippi State may be the best, last ranked team in the history of college football. Fox Sports Clay Travis said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if any given team in the West finished first or last.” Simply put, the SEC West is a gauntlet, as always. Let the games begin.

Georgia Trying to Find Balance Between Depth and Discipline

Richt and Pruitt are cleaning house.
Photo Courtesy: John Kelley

This off-season, like many for The University of Georgia football team, has been a tumultuous one. Transfers and suspensions have decimated an already unimpressive defense. Josh Harvey-Clemons, Shaq Wiggins, Paris Bostick, and now Tray Matthews have all left the team. This leaves first year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt with a lot of work to do in very little time. But the work being done may be happening outside the lines as well as within them. It isn’t just a personnel overhaul in Athens; it’s a full blown culture transformation.

It’s a fine line. That line between keeping talent and cutting troublemakers. It is a line on which UGA coach Mark Richt seems to live every waking second. His recent dismissal of safety Tray Matthews came after the safety was arrested (with 3 other Bulldogs) on fraudulent check cashing charges. Those players face arraignment Thursday.

But before Matthews came Josh Harvey-Clemons, then Paris Bostick, and then Shaq Wiggins: all of whom were/are considered top talents. Richt stressed following the Matthews dismissal that Georgia is “trying to make room for guys who want to do things right.” It was a rather blunt and unenthusiastic response to losing one of your most talented secondary players, but hey, the man is probably over all of this.

The revolving door that seems to be Georgia’s secondary is merely the microcosm of a larger issue at Georgia however. The issue of institutional standards directly conflicting with athletic expectations is one that has seemingly slipped the minds of Dawg Nation.

The University of Georgia has long been recognized as a school that has a harsh, and sometimes unrealistic disciplinary philosophy. It is a philosophy that, as Bill King says, is “less flexible… than other SEC schools, such as Auburn and LSU.” No doubt. But that isn’t a knock on those two schools, nor is it a knock on Georgia, but it is an undeniable disadvantage for UGA.

It is easy to say that Mark Richt and co. are recruiting “thugs” or “punks” but that really doesn’t tell the whole story, contrary to what some will tell you. Richt deals with recruiting battles for nearly every top player he gets between the hedges including Wiggins, Matthews (who not surprisingly is considering Auburn as a transfer option), and Harvey-Clemons. It isn’t Richt’s job to project which kids will mature and which guys won’t be able to handle the spotlight (i.e. Crowell). Instead, it’s his job to recruit solid players with good discipline and high character coming out of high school. All of these now dismissed players fit that mold. So why is it that UGA is always the school losing its top talent?

Easy. The standards, as well as the temptations, are much higher in Athens than any other top program in the SEC. I want to be clear. I am not using UGA’s discipline standards as some sort of an excuse for declining behavior at Georgia. Rather, I’m suggesting that perhaps the reason for all the dismissals and transfers is the decision of Richt and his staff to abide by those rules. 

Mark Richt has quite obviously lost patience with those players not willing to adapt to the “bulldog way.” He has bid them good riddance. It is guys like Shaq Wiggins who, after his transfer, so eloquently stated: “I am looking for a team who will embrace my personality, someone who is a jovial, carefree and a bit of a jokester.” Well that sounds just delightful Shaquille, hope your happy with such ‘jokesters’ as Bobby Petrino and Todd Grantham up in Louisville.

The balance of keeping depth and enforcing discipline has caused much attention in the football program, but it’s on the right track I believe. You can’t keep guys like Wiggins and Matthews around, unless of course you reside at the helm of another SEC institution. Then, no problems. The UGA secondary will suffer (again) because of guys unable to adapt to the strict standards at Georgia, but that is the price you pay for playing under Richt, under Pruitt at Georgia. And I for one am perfectly alright seeing those standards upheld. Besides, with Matthews at Auburn (possibly) next year, alls the Dawgs have to do is throw Hail Mary after Hail Mary towards the safety, he’s bound to botch it, as he and Wiggins did last year on The Plains.