Georgia @ Auburn preview
Jordan-Hare Stadium
Last Meeting ( Nov 14, 2009 ) Auburn 24, Georgia 31
With reports of impropriety swirling around star quarterback Cam Newton for the past week, the Auburn Tigers will turn their focus back to the field Saturday when they play host to the Georgia Bulldogs, one of three remaining hurdles between the second-ranked Tigers and a shot at playing for the national title.
Newton's stats are staggering — but so are the accusations. Separate reports this week alleged serious improprieties when Newton was being recruited out of junior college and, before that, instances of academic fraud while he was Tim Tebow's backup at Florida.
Regardless of whether an NCAA investigation turns up any violations, Newton has done no wrong on the field while leading the Tigers (10-0, 6-0 SEC) to the No. 2 ranking in the polls and in the BCS standings, a perch from which the Tigers simply need to win their two remaining regular-season games — against Georgia and Alabama — and win the SEC title to reach the national championship game.
Newton leads the SEC and is 10th in the nation with 114.6 rushing yards per game, and he's the only player in the country with five games of 170 rushing yards or more this season. He has been responsible for 35 touchdowns — 19 passing, 15 rushing, one receiving — which leads the nation and is more than 71 of the other 119 FBS schools have scored as a team this season.
Newton showed off his arm in last week's 62-24 win against Chattanooga, passing for a career-high 317 yards and four touchdowns to help the Tigers roll up a season-high 628 total yards. He needs 110 passing yards to become the first player in SEC history to pass for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season, a feat only seven players in NCAA history have accomplished.
Although he is clearly the Tigers' star, Newton hasn't been a one-man show. Freshman Michael Dyer ranks fourth in the nation among freshmen with 79.9 rushing yards per game and needs only 31 yards to break Bo Jackson's Auburn freshman rushing record of 829 yards. Sophomore Onterio McCalebb averages 9.27 yards per carry, the highest average among the nation's top 100 rushers.
With that trio leading the way, Auburn ranks fourth in the nation in rushing (307.2 yards per game) and sixth in total offense (509.4 yards per game) and scoring offense (42.2 points per game). The Tigers have rushed for at least 300 yards against five consecutive SEC opponents.
It will be difficult to extend that streak against a Georgia team that allows only 106.4 rushing yards per game, which ranks 13th in the nation.
The Bulldogs (5-5, 3-4 SEC) boast a pretty potent offense, too, especially with star receiver A.J. Green back in the mix.
Since serving a four-game NCAA suspension to start the year, Green has 32 receptions for 510 yards and seven touchdowns in six games.
The Bulldogs, it's no coincidence, have rebounded from a poor start since Green's return. They have scored more than 30 points in five consecutive games for the first time in school history, averaging 42.8 points per game over that stretch, and have won four of those five games, with the lone defeat a 34-31 overtime loss to Florida.
Auburn has won 63 consecutive games when scoring 30 or more points dating back to a 56-49 four-overtime loss to the Bulldogs in 1996.
Auburn leads the all-time series 53-52-8, but Georgia has a 14-9-2 lead in games played at Auburn and the road team has won nine of the last 15 meetings. Georgia has won the past four meetings, including a 31-24 victory last year in Athens.