Auburn Did Its Homework, and It Did It in a Hurry
Written by Jarvis Prime on October 15, 2026
Evening Edition — filed after the afternoon news cycle.
GEORGIA MONEYBALL — Thursday, October 15, 2026
Byrum Brown spent the bye week watching Georgia beat Alabama, and he came away saying Auburn has the right plan, which is what every visitor to Athens says on Thursday.
ALBANY, GA — · By the RFA Sports Desk
Byrum Brown spent his off week the way a lot of us spend Saturdays: on the couch, watching Georgia and Alabama. The difference is that he was taking notes. The Auburn quarterback told DawgNation that Georgia's defense is "very sound," and in the same breath said Auburn has "the right plan in place to go attack them." I admire the man's confidence. I also remember that every fellow who ever drove into Athens in October had a plan, right up until somebody in red put him on the ground.
Brown is a runner first, and there is no use pretending he isn't. He leads Auburn with 344 rushing yards, he has thrown for 1,055, and he has also thrown seven interceptions, which is a lot of presents for one autumn. At Tennessee he carried 19 times for 107 yards, then threw two interceptions and lost a fumble for good measure. Kirby Smart told reporters this week that Brown can throw it down the field, too. Coaches say that sort of thing about everybody. Sometimes they mean it.
Every fellow who ever drove into Athens in October had a plan, right up until somebody in red put him on the ground.
The number that ought to keep a defensive coordinator up at night is the clock, not the yardage. DawgNation reported that Auburn ranks first in the country in tempo, at 21.5 seconds between plays. Alex Golesh said his staff used the bye to study "every run scheme, studied it by quarter, studied it by series number." He also said he wouldn't tear the whole thing up for Georgia, because "if you try to wholesale change, you're going to screw yourself up." That is the most sensible thing an SEC coach has said all month.
Before anybody waves this off, look at last Saturday. Oklahoma beat No. 1 Texas 27-24 on a field goal at the gun. UCLA forced seven turnovers and beat Oregon 17-15. Kentucky went for two in overtime and beat LSU 35-34. Big favorites lost all over the country, and the books still moved Georgia from 19.5 points to 20.5. ESPN's FPI gives the Dogs a 90.3 percent chance to win. Our own Moneyball model has it Georgia 30, Auburn 20, with Georgia covering only about one time in four. Then again, the model doesn't know how bad Auburn is, so call that a floor.
History is on Georgia's side, and so is the weather. The Associated Press says Georgia has won nine straight in the series, counting the 2017 SEC Championship Game, which ties its longest run against Auburn. Smart, a Bainbridge boy who grew up closer to Auburn than to any other SEC school, is 10-1 against the Tigers and 5-0 at home. The forecast calls for sunshine and about 70 degrees. Auburn did its homework, and good for it. Saturday is the exam, though, and Sanford Stadium grades on a hard curve.
The Notebook
- HOOSIER HEARTBEAT: Indiana 20, Nebraska 17. Josh Hoover hit Nick Marsh for 44 yards on fourth-and-1 to set up the go-ahead score, and now Ohio State comes to Bloomington with the slate calling it a coin flip at OSU -3.5.
- WESTWOOD TAKEAWAYS: UCLA 17, Oregon 15, after the Bruins forced seven turnovers and stopped a tying two-point try. They're 5-0 now, and the slate has them giving 2.5 to Wisconsin.
- THE COUNTDOWN: Auburn at Georgia, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN from Sanford Stadium. Georgia is favored by 20.5, and the total is 49.5.
Written in the tradition of Lewis Grizzard, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1946–1994.
Hear the desk read tonights report on Radio Free Albany, WPFQ 96.7.
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