Deep South's Oldest Rivalry has plenty on the line

AUBURN – There is always pride and bragging rights to play for in rivalry games, but Auburn and Georgia are also vying for much more when the longtime rivals meet for the 118th time tonight.

The Tigers and Bulldogs (7-2, 5-2) are trying to keep their hopes for SEC division titles and slim chances of climbing back into the College Football Playoff alive.

No. 9 Auburn (7-2, 4-2 SEC) will know by game time whether or not Alabama defeated Mississippi State, keeping a potential four-team tiebreaker in the SEC West alive heading into the Iron Bowl. No. 16 Georgia (7-2, 5-2) needs help to move past Missouri in the East and head to Atlanta.

But the task at hand tonight is not being overlooked.

"The main focus is to beat Georgia; I can promise you that," Auburn defensive tackle Gabe Wright said. "If we're blessed enough to get that, then we'll be right that way."

The Tigers are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Texas A&M last week, the first truly bad loss of the Gus Malzahn era. Players say they've moved on, but they're never had to immediately respond following such a circumstance.

"It's just going to bring us closer together," Auburn cornerback Jonathon Mincy said, "and we've still got a chance."

Being a part of the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry for 13 years, Georgia coach Mark Richt has a deep appreciation for the history of the series.

"It's always meant a lot to me," Richt said. "It seems to be at a time of the year where usually it's going to decide somebody's fate when it comes to playing for the SEC championship. Sometimes it directly affects it, sometimes it keeps you in the race maybe. … There's been some games that have been very meaningful to us that we won, very meaningful to them that they won."

Richt cited Matthew Stafford's performance in Georgia's 37-15 win at Auburn in 2006 as one of his memorable experiences in the rivalry.

Malzahn has only been a head coach in the series for one game, but the Prayer at Jordan-Hare added another incredible chapter to "one of the better rivalries in college football." The 73-yard touchdown catch by Ricardo Louis and fourth-and-18 gave Auburn a 55-54-8 lead in the all-time series.

Malzahn's prepared for another epic showdown.

"It's going to be a big one," he said.

As a border war with heated recruiting battles, there is also a level of familiarity on both sides seen only in heated rivalries.

"So many of these guys play high school ball together, got recruited together, these players are very familiar with each other," Richt said. "Maybe as much as any time we play. So there's that dynamic going on as well. There's a lot of things that come into play in this game. But it's always been big. And obviously this one's huge.

"It's just one of those true rival games. I mean you can't predict what's going to happen."