2024 GAME 6 REVIEW: CLOSE?

Georgia 31  Auburn 13.  This was the first Power 4 game this season for Auburn that pretty much went as expected.  Georgia is just better than Auburn and head coach Kirby Smart showed Hugh Freeze the way to put away teams you are better than.  Smart has pretty much employed this approach since Georgia's current win streak in the series started in 2018.  He plays a conservative run heavy or high percentage short passing game plan and plays good defense.  He knows he has Auburn outmanned on the line of scrimmage and sooner or later he will win if they do not make a lot of mistakes.  Last season they made those mistakes but still managed to pull it out.  This season the game pretty much went according to plan and Georgia pulled away in the end.

I have read on the Auburn web sites how "close the game" was and how Auburn "stayed right with them"???  I just completely disagree.  My evidence is this is how just about every Auburn Georgia game has gone since 2018.  Again Smart and Georgia have started slow and conservative in every one.  Now in a few after they have gotten the lead they have loosened up and put some points on the board but they always start slow and either grind Auburn down or wait till Auburn implodes.  Again I did not plan to do much criticism of the coaches in this review.  This game is about the last four years of recruiting.  Georgia is miles ahead of Auburn ESPECIALLY ON THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE.  

The only thing I will say about the coaching this week is if the absolutely moronic Auburn coaches had used this game plan in their last three tough games they would have three more wins.  I mean I just shake my head, now they do it!  Auburn was just completely outmanned yesterday and that was the biggest thing that was evident.  Georgia has completely taken control of what used to be the greatest rivalry statistically in college football.  It is the second oldest around and just a few years ago the two teams were tied in wins and points!!!  Since then it has just been complete Georgia domination.  Auburn has not won in Athens in TWENTY YEARS now.  Auburn has only won three times period in those twenty years and all three of those wins took really good Auburn teams.  

I read on the Auburn sites how close we are but I just do not see it.  I am glad Auburn's recruiting is looking really good now but I still do not see the numbers of quality linemen that it is going to take to close the gap with teams like Georgia.  You can get in a great quarterback and more high rated wide receivers but the game is still won on the line of scrimmage as every game between Auburn and Georgia proves.  Also you need the coaching to make the most of these good players that are being brought in and I have not seen a lick of it at Auburn over the last two years.  Hugh Freeze's offense still appears to be almost completely a finesse offense.  He is always always trying to trick the other team and does not seem to recognize the times you just have to line up and run right at them.  You need a mix of both to be successful.

One play from yesterday proves every word I have written so far.  Auburn had the ball 4th and 1 close to midfield to start the 4th quarter down 21-10.  All of the Auburn homers I see writing about this play are acting like the game was closer.  It was not, Georgia was in complete control outside one Jarquez Hunter run.  Auburn did not score one touchdown in the red zone.  Anyway back to 4th and 1, Auburn lined up in the shotgun and it was not a "heavy" lineup while Georgia had absolutely stacked the line of scrimmage.  There is NO WAY Auburn is getting the first down running the ball the way both teams lined up.  It does not matter what running play is called.  Now of course Auburn ran an extra stupid no-chance-in-hell-it-would-work read option and of course Hugh Freeze yelled at quarterback Payton Thorne after the play and blamed him again in the presser for not running the called play???  

All that did was show the continued incompetence of the Auburn coaching staff in just trying to call a play THAT THEY HAD THE WHOLE QUARTER BREAK TO GET RIGHT.  It also showed by the formation that Freeze was once again just trying to trick Georgia and finally it showed the stark difference between the opposing lines.  Auburn left tackle Percy Lewis was completely exposed by Georgia all day.  Of course the few times this Auburn line has looked good is running the ball straight at the other team and again for the umpteenth time if Freeze and company had spent a lot more time running straight at Cal, Arkansas, and Oklahoma they would have three more wins.  That was the one thing that was again highlighted to me in the game against Georgia.

Auburn now has a bye week to try and salvage something from this season.  They have tougher games than most Auburn fans think with Missouri, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt coming up.  People still talk like Auburn is clearly better than those teams when only Mississippi State is actually worse than Auburn in the SEC.  Also those three teams now all have big wins over good SEC teams while Auburn does not.  I am sure there will be much written about how many changes Auburn is making and other such nonsense but I am just going to assume they will just keep running the same thing till they do not.  You can bet Auburn's upcoming opponents will be ready for the standard Hugh Freeze offense so my hope for a turnaround after the bye is low.  As always I hope I am wrong.

I guess the one positive from this week was Vanderbilt's monumental upset of Bama.  Auburn fans deserve to rub this one in as I am sure almost every Bama fan was laughing it up when New Mexico State was crushing Auburn last season.  Well they got a taste of that New Mexico brain trust at Vanderbilt yesterday as quarterback legend Diego Pavia and head coach Jerry Kill moved to Vanderbilt from New Mexico State and were major factors in the Commodores taking down the Tide.  I guess Bama fans would argue that a loss to New Mexico State is worse but is it?  Auburn was out of everything so it did not really matter where Bama's loss to Vanderbilt puts their error margin making it to even a twelve team playoff much smaller.  They lose again and they might be out and that would be a real shame.  

In conclusion, again I hope I am wrong and Hugh Freeze can get something going during this bye week and then finally win a game against an actual Power 4 team.  It would sure be a nice change of pace from this nightmarish first half of the season.