Hugh Freeze reveals his thoughts on Auburn's rivalry with Georgia

Hugh Freeze gets his first taste of the Auburn–Georgia rivalry this weekend inside Jordan-Hare Stadium. A win would change the course of the season for the Tigers and in a rivalry environment, emotions will running high all afternoon.

At least, that’s what history tells us. According to the first-year Tigers headman, he isn’t big on this whole idea of hating the Bulldogs.

“Well, I don’t want to quote something that is inaccurate. It’s the oldest rivalry in the south for sure,” Freeze said during Monday’s weekly press conference. “I don’t know about nationally. … I don’t sense that it has the hatred that is in some other rivalries I’ve been a part of. Nonetheless, I think its intense. I’ll find out.

“I’m not big on hate. I’m big on that this game means so much to so many people so we should compete in a way out of love for our people. Not necessarily for hate to other people. That’s kind of the way I operate. I hope we compete because we love Auburn and it means something to the Auburn people to compete against Georgia. That’ll be my approach. Love is a great motivator for me.”

Freeze’s mindset of love in football won’t be universally accepted, but was reciprocated by Georgia head coach Kirby Smart. A friendlier environment wouldn’t diminish the rivalry, as it’s not about hate for him. He doesn’t hate any of Auburn’s players. He respects them. After all, he recruited most of them as well — and there are no quarrels between his and the Tigers’ coaching staff.

Still, that’s easier for Smart to say, as he’s only lost to Auburn once in eight opportunities. Georgia hasn’t lost to Auburn since Nov. 2017, while Freeze alongside most of his staff and roster are coming in from elsewhere whilst the program regrouped from the Bryan Harsin saga.

There’s no bad blood on Georgia’s side because they don’t remember what it’s like to lose to Auburn. Still, Smart respects the history and the challenge of playing inside Jordan-Hare Stadium.

“I look at it as a hell of a fierce rivalry,” he said. “That’s really why you do this business. Why you get in this business is to play in these type games and this type of atmosphere. Fan bases might not like to hear that because they like to hate each other. There’s not a lot of difference between our fans and their fans at times in terms of where they’re from and that kind of thing. Our players are similar to their players. So I have respect for them, not hate.”

Kickoff between Georgia and Auburn is set for 3:30 p.m. ET this Saturday live on CBS. The Bulldogs are 14.5-point favorites heading into the matchup, per Vegas Insider.