Auburn game-by-game predictions: Running the table possible, but brutal path awaits

Gus Malzahn and his Auburn team eye an SEC title and playoff spot in 2018. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Gus Malzahn and his Auburn team eye an SEC title and playoff spot in 2018. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
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auburn football-season preview
D’Andre Swift (7) and Jake Fromm are a strong 1-2 punch for Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Auburn at Georgia

When: Nov. 10
Where: Sanford Stadium, Athens, Ga.
Time: TBD
TV: TBD

This is where things get real. The final three weeks of the season will be a playoff of sorts for Auburn, much like last season when it beat Georgia and Alabama before losing to the Bulldogs in the SEC title game.

Georgia should arrive to this game undefeated, assuming the Bulldogs win road tests at South Carolina and LSU. The rest of the schedule until now is cake.

Auburn routed Georgia in the regular season at Jordan-Hare last season and then Kirby Smart and his defense limited the Tigers to 259 yards and zero points after the opening drive in the rematch. That’s how you make adjustments.

And that’s the task at hand for Malzahn, Lindsey and Steele: Can they make the right moves to avoid a collapse like we saw in Atlanta last December?

There are plenty of dynamic playmakers on offense, but expect this game to look more like those Alabama-LSU battles we used to see between Nick Saban and Les Miles.

Anders Carlson gets put to the first serious test of the season and produces.

Prediction: Auburn 20, Georgia 17 | Record: Auburn 10-0, 7-0 in SEC