When Auburn’s defense takes the field on Saturday against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs, they will do so without one of their veteran leaders and best players. Head coach Alex Golesh confirmed on Monday that junior All-American Linebacker Xavier Atkins will miss this weekend’s game against Georgia and is indefinitely suspended.
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Despite the hole this will leave in the Tiger defense, Auburn defensive coordinator DJ Durkin has confidence in everyone who has gotten repetitions at that position to take up the slack and perform at a high level. Junior De’marcus Riddick and sophomore Bryce Deas will be called upon to fill in for Atkins. It will also be important for mike linebacker Elijah Melendez to continue his superlative play on Saturday in Athens.
Offensively, Georgia is led by 5th year senior quarterback Gunner Stockton. He started last year’s game against the Tigers and threw for 217 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown game-clincher that made the score 20-10, which was the final. Golesh spoke about what Stockton has done on film that has impressed him.
“Makes a lot of things go. Doesn’t make a ton of mistakes. You can tell, veteran guy that’s played in the system. Gets the ball to the right places. Can move it with his feet. You watch us a year ago, he did a good job of getting out of some things and creating with his feet. He’s only gotten better in that regard,” Golesh said.
Durkin added this about the Georgia signal-caller, “Does a good job of knowing where to go with the ball. Doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. Makes the plays that need to be made. I think he does a good job of identifying pressures. Where the rotation is in the back end…He does a good job getting the ball in the hands of the weapons he has around them.”
Golesh feels Saturday will be another physical test for his defense. The Tigers have been shredded twice, in the run game, since SEC play began by both Florida and Tennessee. Durkin says his unit spent the bye week practicing taking on blocks and shedding them to fill the rush lanes. He hopes this extra preparation will lead to negative plays which have been fewer than needed this year.
“I think anytime your defensive line is able to create negative plays, you get an offense off track and get them behind the sticks; that’s a huge plus. To not have to pressure to do that is a bonus. We try to put multiple fronts to get that done. I think we have guys up front that can do that. We just have to do it on a more consistent basis,” Durkin said.
During the current Georgia winning streak on its home field in this series. which stretches back to 2007, they are averaging 32.8 points per game. Since 2017, Georgia is averaging 28.6 points per game against Auburn, regardless of the venue. Durkin and company will try to hold Georgia under 20 points in Athens for the first time since 2016. They will also try and contain the Bulldogs rushing attack, which is 29th in the country averaging 211 yards per game. Kickoff between Auburn and Georgia is set for 2:30 p.m. central between the hedges at Sanford Stadium.
Auburn Undercover is an independent Auburn sports media company covering Auburn athletics, recruiting and insider news.
