Here’s the case for Auburn from Al.com:
When you already know you’re headed to Atlanta to play the team you coulda, shoulda beat, and if you do it this time you’re in the College Football Playoff again, how does that not keep a Bulldog from looking ahead?
Georgia is a lock for Atlanta but Auburn and Tech are not.
Auburn needed a comeback last weekend, a really big comeback to wipe out a 10-point deficit over the final six minutes, to defeat then-No. 16 Texas A&M 28-24.
Who knew the Tigers had a comeback like that in them?
I have a better question than that. What does Auburn have to play for tomorrow? The division is gone. The Tigers are already bowl eligible. Saving the coach’s job? The AD has already confirmed what Gus’ absurd buyout makes obvious. All that’s left is pride, something you’d expect is in short supply from the only SEC team that’s lost to Tennessee in the last two seasons — at home!
I ask this not as a rhetorical device to dismiss Auburn’s chances tomorrow. (The Tigers’ defensive front is too legit for that, IMO.) Never underestimate the power of in-game momentum, particularly if it’s fueled by a turnover barrage. (Keep in mind, though, that cuts both ways, as Auburn has lost every game in which it’s posted a negative turnover margin.) The flip side of that is if Georgia can seize control tomorrow, I really doubt Auburn’s got enough emotion in the tank to respond, Atlanta or no Atlanta. What do y’all think?
Get The Picture 
I think last week was all they had left in the tank and if we go up 10-14 points they fold like a cheap suit.
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I think you’re right, but the horror of 97 and the AU game still haunts me. If QC isn’t the honorary captain today and our actual captains aren’t talking trash at the coin flip, I will feel lots better. JUST CYAL!
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Four quarters of UGA football will strip the Barners of whatever they have left.
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Exactly, and then they will get destroyed by Bama.
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Yup then that buyout might look less insurmountable.
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Maybe Dirty Auburn can work to our advantage if they pound Tua (revenge for Kerryon getting hurt in the Iron Bowl last season)
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Are we really hoping that a dirty team will injure a young man that has done nothing other than play exceptional football for his team? I love Georgia football with every fiber of my being, but if we have reached this level of fanaticism for needing to win, I find I can no longer identify…
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Whenever we beat ‘Bama (this year, next year, or whenever) I want them to be at 100% strength. That way there is no , “UGA only won because so-n-so was out”…When we beat ’em…I want us to beat the BEST. Then and only then can we claim to be the best!
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We all can hope so.
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I don’t care for Auburn.
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He doesn’t care for Auburn…
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HO’s!
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Inner Munson is concerned. Their D line is legit. But….
It is a night game in Athens, and it is auburn.
Turn the Dawgs loose and let ’em eat, Kirby.
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Cut yo’ ass loose!!
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What in the world was wrong with GATA? Why couldn’t he just yell that? “Cut yo’ ass loose,” just sounds dumb if you ask me….
And, yeah, I realize no one asked me.
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Booooooooo
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I suspect the minute something gets Auburn off-schedule – the defense turns them over, special teams makes a play – they’re done.
I suspect the AD made his comments this week because he fully knows how their next two SEC games are going to go,
Gus is already whining about these two games on the road – even though having both of them at home and in November last year was instrumental to his massive extension.
They know. Which means the players know. Ugly early.
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hmm…after all that ‘splainin by the al.com columnist he still picks UGA to win
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Auburn University. OVERRATED.
Every pre-season, all summer long, AU is touted as a championship bound juggernaut according to their fans and some pundits.
Rarely materializes. Gus is staring right down the barrel of 7-5 season, maybe 6-6, but the Auburn AD and administration are screwed because of huge, contractual buyout. They should have let his underachieving butt go to Arkansas when they had the chance. Now they’re stuck with him.
Also, let’s be honest here…while Stidham is athletically talented, he is NOT A BIG GAME QB. He possesses neither the intestinal nor the mental fortitude to carry this team to the promised land. Another over-hyped Jeremy Johnson IMHO.
Go Dawgs! GATA!
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Auburn University. OVERRATED.
Every pre-season, all summer long, AU is touted as a championship bound juggernaut according to their fans and some pundits.
Rarely does this annual pipe-dream materialize.
Gus is staring right down the barrel of a 7-5 season, maybe even 6-6, but the Auburn AD and administration are screwed because of his huge, contractual buyout. They should have let his underachieving butt go to Arkansas when they had the chance.
Now they’re stuck with him.
Also, let’s be honest here…while Stidham is athletically talented, he is NOT A BIG GAME QB. He possesses neither the intestinal nor the mental fortitude to carry this team to the promised land.
Another over-hyped Jeremy Johnson, IMHO.
Go Dawgs! GATA!
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You can say that again!
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So you are saying they are the Western division’s version of South Carolina? Both are awesome in August, and both fan bases have no inner-Munson to save them from the big crash that inevitably occurs.
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Not to mention that the preseason Heisman winners are typically at USCe and aubrun.
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They both get all hopped up on Mountain Dew only to suffer the inevitable crash.
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accidental re-post. Sorry.
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GTP means never having to say you’re sorry.
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God I hated that movie……..sometimes we all have to say we’re sorry….even sometimes when I’m not……sorry dear
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I think if we want any chance at the playoff we have to win all 4 games. Need more motivation than that?
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It’s like Kirby said, it’s Auburn and we don’t need no stinkin black jerseys.
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Auburn’s offense sucks. They can’t run effectively against any but the worst defenses, and their passing game is only slightly more effective. That’s really all that matters in this game. Georgia would have to play an absolutely atrocious game to lose.
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Was talking to an Auburn buddy yesterday about this. We both think eventually their defense will get tired of carrying the offense. Like mentioned up above, if our defense turns them over or they go through a long string of quick 3 and outs they will break. If we score early like we’ve done and stuff them a few times, it may get ugly.
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Agree…and as I’ve said late at the bar…sometimes ugly works.
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Like last week…we will score 30+ while they can’t score more than 24. Only way we don’t cover is we play bored and sloppy after an early 2 score lead and they make a little comeback late against our 2nd and 3rd teamers.
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You’re right, and I think Kirby (and LSU) got rid of the “playing bored” syndrome.
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Time for a Kirbstomping
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Yeah, buddy.
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I like trucks…..Awbarn sux!
-Early Cuyler
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Oh they’ll show up, it’s a battle…it’s always a battle, no matter the record. Too much history for them to “roll over”.
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Hello. Let me introduce you to two of my favorite moments in the series: 2011 and 2012.
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58–56–8 – Georgia. But the last I looked, Auburn has won more in Athens than Georgia has. Don’t fool yourself, they will show up:
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They’ve won twice in Athens since Mark Richt took over. I’m sure we’ll get their best shot.
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And they also beat us in the last regular season game. Cut it and make it fit any way you want. Whatever makes you happy.
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Exactly right. And those 2 games AU won? Richt’s first season when AU stopped Sanks at the goal line on the last play of the game and on a 4th and 15(?) when our All SEC safety had a concussion and played the wrong coverage.
Combined with the prayer at Jordan Hare, 3 of Auburn’s 5 wins against Richt were squeakers or flukes. The only time AU has been able to beat us down we’re its 2 undefeated teams (2004 and 2010)
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Sorry, forgot Nov. 2017.
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The game’s been a blowout, or at least a comfortable victory, more often than not lately. Margins of victory from 2010 to now:
2010: +18 Auburn
2011: +38 Georgia
2012: +38 Georgia
2013: +5 Auburn
2014: +27 Georgia
2015: +7 Georgia
2016: +6 Georgia
2017-a: +23 Auburn
2017-b: +21 Georgia
Given that Georgia is a much better team than Auburn this year, I expect it to end up in the +21 range for Georgia.
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Umm… can you spell “trap game?” All the elements line up:
o Revenge for SEC Championship game
o Beat the Dawgs bad at home, why not repeat the feat on the road
o Current East Champs read their press clippings and believe all they have to do is show up
o History of not showing up in big games – see LSU & ghost of Mark Richt
o Gus kinda needs this one
o Gus finds some quirky change like using his running QB and sits Stidham
o Banged up O-line doesn’t quite live up to “plug & play” reputation
o Cold – maybe snow
o They’ve got a pretty good long snappa
o It’s Auburn – sans fire hoses and “knock down passes”
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“The Inner Munson is strong in this one.”
Here, Hot; -/. Have some Kool-aid. It’ll make you feel better.
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“The Inner Munson is strong in this one”….Nicely done, Got.
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Snow? Kind of a stretch .
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OK – *sarcastically snow” – but, “climate change”
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NO.
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Except your “elements” are not reality based. “Beat the Dawgs bad (sic) at home, why not repeat the feat on the road(?)”
Ghost of Mark Richt, the guy who was 10-5 against Auburn? And Mark Richt has no more to do with this game than Wally Butts does.
Gus substitutes a running QB for Stidham and that should be a good move? The worst part of Auburn’s offense is its running game, so Auburn goes away from what it does best and doubles down on what it does worse?
Sure, Auburn has a chance to win, but not for any of the nonsense reasons you spouted.
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Atlanta was off the table for Auburn last week and they came back to win. The game this week is a rivalry game and likely second biggest game of the year for most Auburn fans. Getting up to play will not be a problem for them. They have a young OL and are missing their 2 great RBs from last year. UGA should win but stranger things have happened in this rivalry.
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There have been waaaaay too many seasons where one team has come in the underdog and pissed all over the favorite’s season to cost them something in this series to EVER take AU lightly. I hope our players, coaches, and fans realize that is the nature of this one. Think about osme of the greatest and most improbable victories in UGA history and AU comes to mind many times. Now think of how many times we could have won the SEC (before divisions) or had a spot in the SECCG but lost to AU and it all went out the window.
That is all the motivation it should take. ESAD die Auburn.
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One of the reasons, it is a fun rivalry. UGA/Auburn has been very even for a series played this long. I was oddly optimistic in ’06 and nervous last year going down to the plains, and was optimistic in Atlanta as they were the type of games when the underdog pisses on the other team’s season.
I think UGA pulls it out this year but as you said don’t take AU lightly.
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Those “many seasons” for us when we were unseated and lost to Auburn were 1942 and 2017. 2 seasons out of 125 for us. I cannot remember a season when Auburn was undefeated and lost to us.
In 1971 both us and AU were undefeated and 1 had to give the other either a first loss or tie. Auburn beat us, so it does not quite fit your theory but if you insist we can add it to 1942 and 2017, making it 3 times in the collective 250 seasons of both AU and UGA football that it happened
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My inner Munson does recall 2006 when UGA(after losing to UK the previous week) went to Jordan Haire and dominated a top 5 AU team from the first snap. I hope they don’t return that favor.
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http://home.hiwaay.net/~pcasteel/aubfamily.html
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Article was merely a fluff piece for the fans, etc…..the DAWGS know any loss between now and December derails their CFP plans. Right now it’s Saturday, nothing else….tigles/pus bus will show who they are as a team effort…..GATA
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Georgia wins; it’s just a matter of by how much… I think many of us are beginnning to believe that the Dawgs will blow out Auburn. It’s that CMR hangover that holds us back from completely believing. You get the feeling that the Tigers are close to laying down.
Georgia 41
Auburn 14
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I’ve never understood this thought that Atlanta is the only thing that matters to a football player and now that we’ve clinched they won’t care about anything else. This is Auburn. It’s a rivalry. They thumped us last year, even though it’s already been avenged. I’m sure they want even more payback for that. They know these guys. And they also know if they stumble before the title game then their playoff chances are gone. Georgia has a boatload of motivation. Auburn has the rivalry for motivation as well. I expect to see two hungry football teams tomorrow. I also expect to see that Georgia is the better team. And I expect it to be a 2 or 3 score game at the end. The only game that I worry about Georgia coming out flat for is the UMass game, not that it will matter.
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First thing we always hear on the broadcast is how many aubie players are from the state of GA. Many of the players have been going against eachother for years. I bumped into one of their fans last night, and it was clear he’d love to be crowing about a win all next week.
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My thoughts exactly. Too many GA on Auburn for them not to be up for this one.
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38-13
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Just win, of course (duh). But I think Georgia needs to beat Auburn, UMass and Georgia Tech like they stole something to keep the confidence level improving. Offense needs to stretch its legs in the passing game these next 3 weeks to get us ready. We’ve got to get better to have a shot in Atlanta.
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While I believe we take care of business as usual I do have one concern: This is their 2nd biggest game on the schedule and obviously a big rivalry game. It makes me think of some underdog UGA teams that gave Auburn fits- 94, 96, 2006, 2010 to name a few (I’m sure I am missing some).
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In this series, how often as the team with nothing to play for beat the team that was headed for a championship?
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’94, ’02, ’06
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Not ‘02, we won.
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’02 because they won in an upset. All 3 were upsets
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But we had something to play for…
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We did not beat AU in 1994. We tied.
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True but at the time it felt like a win. Columbus paper headline was something like “Georgia bets Auburn 24-24”.
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Let’s just go with post-divisional games, and it hasn’t happened often. Georgia tied an undefeated, but still-on-probation team in ’94. Georgia upset an Auburn team that still had a shot at the West in ’96. Georgia upset an Auburn team that still had a shot at the West in ’06 (though they would have lost the tiebreaker to Arkansas regardless as things played out). Georgia upset an Auburn team that theoretically still had a chance to win the West in 2016 (though nobody in their right mind thought they’d beat Alabama). There have been a couple other upsets (Auburn in ’99 and Georgia in ’09) and some close games when one team was clearly better than the other. Auburn hasn’t upset a championship caliber Georgia team in quite a while, really. ’97 was the closest recently, and it wasn’t that much of an upset given that Auburn did play for the SEC title that year.
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2005 was the worst one. Georgia had clinched the East (sound familiar) and the Dawgs lost on a “third and Willie” play that went for 80 yards with the ball downed on the Georgia 1 Yd line. AU scored moments later to win.
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Yes, but that Auburn team still had a shot to win the West at that point, so I don’t consider it much of an upset, more akin to the two games last year.
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Maybe we catch them looking ahead to playing UCF again.
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My biggest concern is injuries. Is it just me or do games played by a team(s) frustrated at their own under-achievement seem to feature more injuries?
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We saw them try and hurt Murray up big in an unloseable game for them. Do you really think Auburn need a disappointing season as a reason to try and hurt folks?
This game and GT are worrisome in that regard.
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It was over for them after losing to UT. The rest of the motivation is just Gus Bus’s earning his $49 million with fake sauce.
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Can we retire “inner munson”? it is not specifically unique to UGA or Larry Munson to fret over your team’s likelihood of success. I don’t know why we think it is some special condition here.
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Now there’s something to worry about.
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seems appropriate given this is a blog about worrying how 19-22 year old young men perform at sports.
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Yea I hate the way I have to spend so much money to access this blog and then get forced to read.
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I don’t think anyone here feels that we hold the corner market on fretting over our team’s success. The inner Munson reference is our way of showing a shared feeling that we have with an icon of Georgia football. Everyone here knows exactly what you mean when you say ‘my inner Munson’…well, I guess I should say those that are familiar with the iconic man that was the voice of UGA football for over 40 years.
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