• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Auburn, Georgia resume "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry"

Nov 7, 2006 - 9:17 PM Georgia (6-4) at No. 5 Auburn (9-1), 12:30 pm EST

AUBURN, Alabama (Ticker) - If recent history is any indication, the Georgia-Auburn clash will come down to the wire.

The "Deep South's Oldest Rivalry" resumes Saturday when fifth-ranked Auburn hosts struggling Georgia in a Southeastern Conference matchup.

Auburn leads the series - which has been interrupted only by war since 1898 - by a narrow 53-48-8, but is just 9-12-2 in games staged here. Georgia has outscored Auburn by just two combined points in the 109 meetings, 1,650-1,648.

Four of the past six meetings have come down to the final seconds, including last year's meeting in Athens, which Auburn won, 31-30, on a 20-yard field goal by John Vaughn with six seconds left. Vaughn got to attempt the kick after a 62-yard completion from Brandon Cox to Devin Aromashodu on 4th-and-10.

Last year's clash also featured eight lead changes, including four in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers (9-1, 5-1 SEC West), who have won 21 of their last 23 regular-season conference games, are heavy favorites for this one and are coming off a 27-0 non-conference blanking of Arkansas State in which they limited the Indians to just 177 total yards.

The Bulldogs (6-4, 3-4 East), meanwhile, have dropped four of their last five games, including a 24-20 setback at Kentucky last Saturday.

True freshman Matthew Stafford tossed three interceptions for Georgia, the final one after Kentucky went ahead on Tony Dixon's three-yard run with 1:21 left.