Georgia needs victory over Auburn to keep title hopes burning

ATLANTA - The way this series has gone, it appears that visiting Auburn has Georgia right where it wants them on their Sanford Stadium home field in Athens.

In a series that reaches its 111th game most of them played on neutral fields Auburn leads in games played at Georgia and Georgia leads in games played at Auburn. It doesn't really figure, it's just the way it is.

The 17th-ranked Tigers, a 2-point underdog this time, own an 18-9 advantage in games played at Athens and Georgia leads 13-9-2 in games played at Auburn.

The 10th-ranked Bulldogs are still in contention for the Southeastern Conference East Division crown, one they will capture if they win their last two league games against Auburn and Kentucky, and get some help with Tennessee losing one of its final three games against Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky.

``You never know what's going to happen in this game,'' said Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville.

``This is a very typical Auburn team,'' Georgia coach Mark Richt said. ``They're a physical, hard-nosed bunch. They make very few mistakes. This will be just another Southeastern Conference barnburner, more than likely.''

Freshman Matthew Stafford led Georgia to a 37-15 upset at No. 5 Auburn last year, one season after Brandon Cox led Auburn to a 31-30 victory over the Dogs in Athens.

Both Stafford and Cox are back to quarterback their teams again. Redshirt freshman tailback Knowshon Moreno has become a dynamic offensive force for the Bulldogs in recent games, ranking third in the SEC with 111 yards rushing per game.

He is only the second Georgia freshman to crack the 1,000-yard mark in rushing in a season. The other was Herschel Walker.

Auburn already has won at Florida, at Arkansas and come close at LSU. Will this be the year the home team wins? Yes, indeed. Georgia 21-17.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/11/203768