Bulldogs happy to finally be back home

UGA has won its past 10 games at Sanford Stadium.

ATHENS — When No. 5 Geor- gia steps between the hedges at Sanford Stadium on Satur

to oppose No. 24 Auburn, it will be the first time the Bulldogs have played at home since Oct. 6, when they handily defeated Vanderbilt for homecoming.

Georgia, which is riding a 10-game home winning streak, will close the regu- lar season at home, facing Auburn on Saturday, Massachusetts on Nov. 17 and Georgia Tech on Nov. 24.

Although the Bulldog Nation traveled well to LSU, Jacksonville and Kentucky, team members said they’re happy to return to the friendly confines of Athens.

“It’s always good when we play at home,” nose guard Michael Barnett said. “We

ys love playing in front of the home crowd. It’s a great experience playing in front of your hometown fans.”

“Oh, it feels good to be back home with the best fans in the nation,” guard Solo- mon Kindley said. “It’s going to feel nice to be back home in the stadium, where we know where everything’s at.”

History shows that the visitor in the Deep South’s Old- est Rivalry often has more success than at home. Geor- gia holds a 16-12-2 record when playing in Auburn, and the Tigers are 18-14 in games played at Sanford Stadium and have won 10 of their past 17 games in Ath- ens. Saturday’s game also marked the third time the two teams have squared off in the past 12 months.

The two teams have also played 13 times in Atlanta (although not since 1914, with the exception of last year’s SEC Championship game), with both teams going 5-5-3.

The jury’s out, however, on playing at night.

“It’s a lot of fun to play at night here, especially when they do the whole fourth-quarter (Light Up Sanford) thing,” tight end Charlie Woerner said. “That’s really fun.”

“It’s pretty good,” said Barnett, who said he doesn’t enjoy waiting all day for kick

“I honestly wish it was earlier, but anytime of the day is great being at home.”

Defensive Tigers: On the year, Auburn has allowed only five rushing touchdowns this season and are ranked No. 13 in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 17.3 points an outing. The Tigers’ defense has given up a touchdown on 29.6 percent of opponents’ visits to the red zone, good enough for No. 2 in the nation.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart attributes much of Auburn’s success on defense to its front line, which includes seniors Dontavious Russell, Darrell Williams, Deshaun Davis and Montavious Atkinson.

“They’re big, they’re phys- ical, they’re quick, they’re athletic,” Smart said earlier this week. “A lot of them are gonna be high draft picks. We’ve been against them before. It seems like they’ve been there forever. They’re talented, and they do a good job up front.”

Auburn ranks eighth in the SEC in total defense (390.3 yards per game), seventh in rushing defense (168.5 yards per game) and seventh in pass defense (221.8 yards per game).

Davis ranks third in the league in tackles with 85 (9.4 per game) and Thomas ranks No. 24 with 57 tackles (6.3 per game). Defensive end Nick Coe ranks second in the SEC in tackles for loss (13.5).

Smart said the going on the ground may be slow early, but the Bulldogs’ offense will have to keep chipping away.

“I think the biggest thing is being consistent,” he said. “You’ve got to keep chopping wood. You can’t expect to get a lot of movement early on those guys. They’re heavy, and they strike. We’re gonna strike. Two guys striking each other, two stubborn teams. They wanna stop the run and we want to run the ball. We’ll see how it goes.”