What Auburn must do to beat UGA

If the Tigers have any chance of beating the Dawgs, they must find a way to effectively run the football. That starts with the offensive line. Contrary to what has happened in the previous 10 games, the O-line MUST open some holes.

If the line re-figures out how to be tough and does it's job, Ben Tate and Brad Lester should have a good day and honestly, I don't quite understand why Tristan Davis isn't in the mix. Davis is the only Auburn back this year who actually has pure breakaway speed. His speed makes him a playmaker - something the coaches have been looking for. Of course, there's always Mario Fannin, too. Consider him the unknown in this equation. If he can hold onto the football he could be very valuable.

The other factor to the running game is, of course, Kodi Burns. Burns could have another big day against UGA. But don't count on it. Nothing against UT-Martin, but Georgia's linebackers are MUCH faster than theirs. In my humble opinion, linebackers are the key to an effective running game from the quarterback. Burns should have no trouble getting through the D-line, but the next level is the problem. He won't be able to run away from Georgia's LBs like he did against Martin.

The other key to victory is, of course, special teams. Wes Byrum needs to make his kicks. But more importantly, Clinton Durst needs to have his best game of the year if Auburn is to win this game. Robert Dunn and Davis will get their return yards to set up the offense. So if the offense can stay on the field and give UGA a long field to play on when they can't, things should go well.

Notice that i didn't mention the defense. That's because the defense should be fine as long as the offense does it's job and the special teams are effective. The problems Auburn has had on defense stem largely from staying on the field too long. Plus, i didn't want to talk about how thin Auburn is in the secondary - there's not really an answer for that. But if I could give one piece of advice, it would be this: TACKLE. I'm not sure all of Auburn's players truly know what this means - a tackle is that funny thing that happens when you bust you ass to get to the ball carrier, put your arms around him and don't let go until he falls to the ground. But they better figure it out.

However, I would like to see a few more blitz packages from Paul Rhodes. That could force Matthew Stafford into making some mistakes.