T. GAMBLE: Not much at stake for Dawgs and Tigers

In just a few short weeks, on November 14th, the oldest Deep South college football rivalry in the nation will line up one more time. Yes, Auburn and Georgia have played 118 times. The record stands at 55 wins for Auburn, 55 wins for Georgia, and eight ties. Many times SEC championships and even National Title hopes have hung in the balance.

This year, however, is not one of many times.

Auburn has a defense that could not stop The Citadel. The defense is so bad that last week it gave up 555 yards to Ole Miss and, after the game, Auburn commentators talked about how much better it looked than in past weeks. Jacksonville State set a new school record for passing yards against Auburn. That’s right, Jacksonville State … from Alabama, not Florida. They play in a division below Auburn against powerhouses like Richmond and Elon.

If you even know where Elon is, you immediately qualify to be on “Jeopardy!”

On the other side of the ledger, Georgia has not scored a touchdown since before Herschel Walker had only one personality. Yep, for two and a half games, Georgia has not been in the end zone. But, they are going this weekend where all sick football programs go to get well — Kentucky. Kentucky is like Viagra for sluggish offenses. If that doesn’t revitalize your offense, nothing will.

Georgia has a potent offense, except it has no quarterback, no reliable receivers and no running game. Otherwise, it is clicking along nicely. Things are so bad, a few fans were chanting for Bobo to come back as offensive coordinator.

But Georgia fans need not fear. Kentucky may be a cure for sick teams, but Auburn’s defense can make a third-string quarterback look like Brett Favre in a matter of seconds. Blown coverages, no pass rush, missed tackles — they have all the tools to convert Lambert from benchwarmer to Heisman hopeful. Chubb could still run on this team wearing his after-surgery boot.

Despite the poor records, I anticipate both teams will bring hordes of fans ready to continue the 118-year-old tradition of going to the game, drinking excessively and then asking someone who did not go to the game the next day what happened.

Anything could occur, I suppose. I would not be particularly surprised if both teams just quit about the third quarter and I imagine it would take most fans the rest of the game time to realize they were actually no longer on the field.

I wish long-time Georgia fan, and great American, Edward Massey were still alive today to travel to the 119th meeting. He was a diehard Georgia fan, but one I could tolerate fairly easily, even though he did fit the mold of the obnoxious fan spoken about in Georgia’s famous “who’s that coming down the tracks” fight song of years past.

Edward enjoyed an occasional refreshment before games of such importance, like a cat enjoys an occasional nap. He was traveling from south Georgia to Auburn with a group of equally devoted and occasional refreshment enjoying Dawg fans. They got on I-85 for the last leg of the trip when nature called, so they pulled over on the side of the Interstate near a wooded area.

Edward, being the observant kind that he was, noticed a highway distance sign saying Montgomery 67, Auburn 6. He got back in the vehicle, proudly announcing certainty that Georgia would win easily this day. His buddies expressed concern, as Auburn was highly rated that year and picked to win.

Edward explained, pointing to the sign, “Well, they already lost to Montgomery 67 to 6. “

I think I’m glad we did not play Montgomery this year, and Georgia might be, too. I’ll still go, I guess, and I may enjoy an occasional refreshment. It may be the last time we get to see Mark Richt and Malzahn on the same field.

Email columnist T. Gamble at [email protected].