Here is the Oct. 7 edition of The Daily Recap presented by JFQ Lending.
Defending the run
Earlier this week, Auburn offensive lineman Brandon Council stated his belief that the Tigers would be able to run on a Georgia defensive line that was dealing with depth issues.
However, Auburn has yet to prove it can consistently run the ball in its own right.
This season, the Tigers rank 10th in the SEC in the rushing by averaging 159.4 yards on the ground per game. Leading the way individually at Auburn is Tank Bigsby, who has totaled 326 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
If recent history is indicative of anything, Auburn may not fare too well against Georgia when running the ball. As Dave McMahon noted, the Tigers have averaged only 56 rushing yards per game in the two teams’ past three meetings.
In addition, McMahon wrote about head coach Kirby Smart’s success against Auburn, a team Smart went 2-2 against as a player.
“(Smart) did have an interception against the Tigers in 1998. It was the 12th of his 13 career interceptions, and it came against Gabe Gross,” McMahon wrote. “Gross, a former first round draft pick in baseball, played seven seasons in the majors for four different teams.
“Smart has fared differently against Auburn as a head coach. He is 6-1 against them, and for the most part, the games have not been close.”
Defending the ‘wild card’
A big focus in practice this week has been to figure out a way to slow down Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford. Ashford received his first extended minutes in Auburn’s loss to Penn State and started the past two games against Missouri and LSU.
Ashford has completed 54.1 percent of his passes for 709 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
He’s also carried the ball 50 times for 223 rushing yards and a score.
"He’s a wild card because he’s gotten better each week as a passer and in his decision making," Smart said. "He’s converted more and more third downs with his arm, and he’s never not going to have his legs, and his legs are incredible as far as making plays with his feet."
Georgia recruited Ashford, who ended up choosing to start his college career at Oregon. Smart said UGA receivers coach Bryan McClendon thought highlight of the young quarterback during their time together with the Ducks.
"(McClendon) talked about how phenomenal an athlete he is," Smart said. "He worked out with the receivers and athletes—didn't even work out with the quarterbacks during a lot of their conditioning program. You see it on tape. He's really special in terms of twitch, being elusive."
Around the League
Also on UGASports
Every UGASports.com staffer submitted their game predictions for Saturday’s game between Georgia and Auburn.
Trent Smallwood broke down the positional matchups based on player grades from Pro Football Focus.
Jed May previewed Georgia’s five most important visitors that will be at Sanford Stadium this weekend.
One more day
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