I imagine that every good Georgia Bulldog fan has seen this photo of Uga V trying to take a chunk out of Auburn WR Robert Baker’s midriff thousands of times. That’s just one (of the best) moments in this Southern college football rivalry that started in 1892. These two teams have clashed nearly every year since then somewhere between the plains of eastern Alabama and the hills of north Georgia. And nearly every year one of these teams has had something big to play for. This year is no exception – Georgia is hoping to win out and for a little help from either Arkansas, Vanderbilt or Kentucky for a berth in the SEC Championship game. Auburn is just looking to stay in the hunt for the SEC West crown if LSU stumbles. Both of these teams will be coming to Sanford Stadium Saturday on a bit of a run. The tenth ranked Dawgs have won three straight. Auburn has won six of its last seven and are currently ranked 18th in the nation after a poor start to the season with losses to South Florida and Mississippi State at home. The Bulldogs are probably stronger on paper, certainly on offense – they have statistically outperformed the Tigers in both rushing and passing offense. But like any big SEC rivalry, this game comes down to intangibles – the aspects of the game that can’t be measured. I’ve got three keys that the Dawgs will have to keep in mind if they hope to come out of Saturday’s matchup with their fourth straight W. One big intangible that may play a role in the game on Saturday is that the road team has a huge advantage in this series. Auburn is 18-9 in Sanford Stadium in the series which is particularly bad news for a Georgia team that has been lackluster at home of late. The Dawgs have got to find something that they’ve lacked between the hedges if they want to stay in the SEC East race. If we come out like we did against Troy last week we’ll be a little Tiger snack. The Dawgs have got to figure out how to use their home field advantage and this is the week to do so. A second intangible is the confusion in the Bulldog backfield. Redshirt Freshman Knowshon Moreno has been red hot and pretty much inspired the Georgia offense in their last few games. The only reason that he’s been our horse for the Troy and Florida games is that the rest of the tailback committee has been off sick. In their absence, Moreno has managed to make an offense that verged on poor for most of the season look like a juggernaut. He is the first fresher since Herschel Walker to rush for over 1,ooo yards. But Mark Richt and Mike Bobo have always been unfortunate fans of running back by committee and senior tailback Thomas Brown may be back from injury this weekend. Whether we let Knowshon run it on his own or insist on the group approach may have a lot to do with how we fare against a Tiger defense that’s tough against the run. The final intangible is a poor Auburn offense against a very poor Georgia defensive backfield. The Tigers have been spectacularly average on the attack, relying instead on their fierce D to keep them in the game. The Georgia defensive backs have been spectacularly poor throughout the season allowing everyone to light us up for long pass plays. If the opponent’s running back can break through our tough front seven then he can pretty much do want he will with our D-backs. Something is going to break here and this matchup may be the biggest decider as to who wins this game. I’ve got no real beef with Auburn and so shan’t talk much trash. Their coach, Tommy Tuberville, looks a little like a ferret and is thus probably untrustworthy. That stupid “War Eagle” cheer is pretty annoying and I’ve never heard an adequate explanation of it from an Auburn fan. That being said, Auburn fans aren’t really known for their verbal skills. My big rivalries are Tennessee, Florida and Tech but this is one that the Dawgs really need to win to get to Atlanta in December. So, lets hunker down and send the Plainsmen home with their silly striped tails between their legs. Kickoff for this one is 3:30 Eastern (8:30 Greenwich) it’s televised on CBS in the States or join Zach and I as we listen to the great Larry Munson call the game on internet radio. Go Dawgs!

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