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Georgia coach Mark Richt believes Auburn is playing its best football of the season, and he expects a tough game Saturday.
“They’re playing with a lot of confidence that I see,” the Bulldogs’ coach said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “It’s going to be a battle.”
Georgia (6-3) will travel to Auburn (5-4) for a noon ET game on Saturday. The game will be shown on CBS.
Richt pointed out that Georgia and Auburn have the south’s oldest rivalry. This will be the 119th time the Bulldogs and the Tigers have faced off. It’s been a very even series; both teams have won 55 times and they’ve tied eight times.
Richt started off today by reiterating the fact that the all-time UGA/AUB series is tied. Saturday is a tiebreaker. #UGAvsAUB— The Red & Black (@redandblack) November 10, 2015
Richt feels that Auburn is playing some of its best football right now. Last week, the Tigers beat Texas A&M 26-10.
Richt feels that Auburn is really hitting its stride after win over Texas A&M https://t.co/vzXIedx6Bx
— Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 10, 2015
Richt said he’s not sure which quarterback Auburn will use on Saturday. Sean White had been the starter, but has has been battling a knee injury, and did not play last week. Jeremy Johnson took White’s place as Auburn’s signal caller, and led the Tigers to a win over Texas A&M. Georgia is preparing to see both quarterbacks. “There’s much more threat of a QB run with Johnson,” Richt said. “Both of them have plenty of arm to do what they want in the passing game.” Richt pointed out that Auburn’s defense is much improved since defensive end Carl Lawson returned from an injury that had forced him to miss six games.
Richt says Auburn’s defense is giving up 18 points a game since Carl Lawson returned from injury. — Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) November 10, 2015
Georgia is coming off of a 27-3 victory over Kentucky last week. Richt was asked what the team’s mindset was like. Last week, reports surfaced that there was turmoil and dysfunction among the Georgia coaching staff, and that defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt was about to be fired. Richt has said those reports were false. He also indicated that the team had ignored any potential distractions and stayed focused on football. “I think the mindset of the team is pretty healthy right now. I think they handled last week pretty well,” he said.
Richt says the mindset of the team is good after last week’s win over Kentucky https://t.co/MbFO39otQg — Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 10, 2015
This will be the third time in the past four years that the Georgia-Auburn game has been played at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
The last time the Bulldogs played in Auburn’s stadium, in 2013, Auburn wide receiver Ricardo Louis caught a tipped pass and sprinted into the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown catch in the final minute of the game to give the Tigers a 43-38 victory. The play is known to Auburn fans as “The Prayer at Jordan-Hare.” When asked about that game on Tuesday, Richt said that crazy plays like that seem to happen more often in college football than in the pros.
“That’s why people love college football,” he added.
Mark Richt recalls his reaction to the Prayer in Jordan-Hare: “I hit my knees. My chest hit the ground. What in the world is going on?”
— Seth Emerson (@SethEmersonAJC) November 10, 2015
Richt was asked about the Missouri football team’s role in an on-campus anti-racism protest that led to the school president’s resignation on Monday. Georgia’s coach said he had heard about it, but wasn’t familiar enough with all of the details to comment on it. However, he praised Tigers coach Gary Pinkel for supporting his players.
Mark Richt said what Coach Pinkel did to support players’ right to protest is what makes America great and thinks he handled it well. — Anthony Dasher (@AnthonyDasher1) November 10, 2015
