Kirby Smart shares on Auburn, threats the Tigers pose

So far this season, there have been major ups and downs for the undefeated Georgia Bulldogs, going from a blowout win over Oregon their opening week to a nail-biting win at Missouri last week. After such a scary win, it’s hard to overlook any team, especially one that comes in the form of such a bitter rival such as Auburn. This week, Kirby Smart spent time analyzing all of the strengths of the Tigers’ roster.

Robby Ashford

In his five appearances so far this season, Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford has shown off his arm and legs against impressive competition. Through the air, Ashford has completed 46 of his 85 passes for 706 yards, adding on three touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground, he has run for 223 yards and a touchdown on 50 attempts. Serving in place of the injured TJ Finley and potentially even taking over as the Tigers’ starter, Ashford has gotten the attention of coaches all over the country, including Smart.

“That’s a young man we recruited and came over and visited us several times,” Smart said on Monday. “He is a tremendous athlete. Coach B-Mac had him at Oregon when he was there and talked about how phenomenal an athlete he is. 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 is really special in terms of twitch, being elusive. His best plays sometimes are plays that end up being broken plays. The guy can take off and really hurt you, beat you with his arm, especially on scrambles. They had a huge play last week off a scramble play. So being disciplined in your rush lanes, being disciplined in your coverage responsibilities when a quarterback scrambles will probably happen more often this week than most weeks because of the athlete he is.”

Auburn RBs

Unlike Ashford, Georgia is extremely familiar with Auburn running back Tank Bigsby, who has faced the Bulldogs twice in his career with the Tigers. In his two games against the Dawgs, Bigsby ran the ball for a combined 59 yards on 18 carries with an additional 10 receptions for 90 yards through the air. While Bigsby has not been able to move the ball extremely effectively against the Dawgs up until this point in his career, he has been against other teams, and Smart is very aware of the threat he poses.

“He’s explosive,” Smart said. “He is a great guy out of the backfield to catch the ball. He catches screens well. He is vertical in his run game. He is tough. Yards after contact. He’s one of those backs, that like the good ones, they get better with their carries. He’s extremely physical and runs with a low pad level, and is one of these particular SEC backs that you better bring your lunch pail when you come to tackle them.”

Outside of Ashford and Bigsby, the Tigers have another weapon out of their backfield in sophomore running back Jarquez Hunter. With Hunter being the “thunder” to Bigsby’s “lightning,” the Tigers will have no dropoff at the running back position when Bigsby heads to the sideline.

“Yeah, we think two of the probably the best backs in the SEC actually,” Smart claimed about Bigsby and Hunter. “Together, you know, that Hunter kid is strong, physical. When you chart the number of broken tackles those two guys have had together, it’s as much as anybody in our conference. and you package that with a quarterback who is super fast and really elite, you’ve got three. I mean tackling is going to be at a premium in this game because they’re big physical guys including the quarterback that you got to wrap up and knock back tackle. So, I’ve been very impressed with the backs.”

Tigers Defense

On the defensive side of the ball, the Tigers have the ability to make some noise up front and get into the Bulldogs’ backfield. Auburn EDGE rushers Derick Hall and Eku Leota have a combined 12 tackles for loss so far this season, and they stand out when you turn on the film. Leota, however, was lost for the season this week as announced by Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. Still, the Bulldogs gave up 9 tackles for loss last week in Columbia, so they surely have their eyes turned to the Auburn front seven.

“They’re fast, physical, playing really hard,” Smart explained. “Two elite edge guys. Some athletic linebackers. They played really, really hard. I mean, just call it what it is. They scratch off and play with confidence. They’re flying around. I mean, I know almost every single player on that defense and they’re good football players.”

Georgia and Auburn kickoff at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS Saturday. It’s the 127th meeting in the rivalry series known as the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, one that the Bulldogs hold a 62-56-8 advantage in all-time including 14 of the last 17 and five straight.