Auburn football vs. Georgia: Our scouting report, score prediction for the SEC rivalry

AUBURN — Georgia has owned Auburn football as of late, and that's putting it nicely.

The Tigers are 1-9 in their last 10 matchups against the Bulldogs, with their latest win coming on the back of Kerryon Johnson's 172 rushing yards in 2017. The two programs have been going in opposite directions since 2021, with Georgia winning back-to-back national championships and Auburn firing a head coach midway through the 2022 campaign.

But the Tigers (3-1, 0-1 SEC) hope to have turned a new leaf, bringing in new athletics director John Cohen in October and hiring coach Hugh Freeze in November. Freeze has long said he needs time and patience to build Auburn up, but the Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0) won't care about that when they arrive to Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Here's our scouting report and score prediction for the matchup on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS):

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Georgia QB Carson Beck's first road start

The Tigers don't have many points of optimism heading into the game, but one they'll hope to take advantage of is Georgia quarterback Carson Beck's inexperience.

Beck, who sat behind Stetson Bennett for the last two seasons, has completed 69.4% of his passes for 1,184 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions through the first four starts of his collegiate career. But something Beck has yet to do is go on the road, as all of Georgia's game this year have been at home.

"He's been on these road trips," coach Kirby Smart said of Beck on Wednesday. "Obviously, he hasn't played and he hasn't been out there, but he's seen the environment. ... The environment does not control you. You have to control your decision-making and keep a good heartbeat.

"Why (do) I feel good about that (with Beck)? Well, because this kid is wired that way. He's not a real emotional, up-and-down kid."

Will WR Ladd McConkey play?

Bursting onto the scene in 2022 as Georgia's second-leading pass-catcher behind All-SEC tight end Brock Bowers, junior receiver Ladd McConkey has yet to play in 2023 due to a nagging back injury.

His status against Auburn is up in the air.

"Yeah, he's looked really good," Smart said when asked for an update on McConkey. "It's been a walk before you run, run before you sprint and then sprint and get contact. We're kind of in stages of that. It's one of those things where we don't know what's going to cause it to frustrate him or bother him. He has to trust it, and he's doing exactly what the doctors have told him and the experts have told him.

"We've had several specialists meet with him. He's coming back (and) he's getting faster each day, in terms of ramping up. And then conditioning is a factor as well because it's expected to be hot and he hasn't played a lot. There may be a role for him when he goes."

Georgia's stingy defense

Don't be fooled by the sack numbers, Georgia's defensive front is still among the best in the sport.

The Bulldogs have five sacks through four games, and that's including matchups against perceived lower-level teams such as UT Martin, Ball State and UAB. But Georgia's defense remains staunch, as the Bulldogs have given up just 11.25 points a game this season and have held opponents to an average of 87 rushing yards, numbers that rank No. 10 and No. 17 in the nation, respectively.

Score prediction

Georgia 38, Auburn 14: The Tigers looked lost on offense against Texas A&M. Maybe the home environment will help them, but the issues put on display versus the Aggies seem too large to mediate in only a week. The defense tries its best, but the elite talent on Georgia's offensive line paves the way for the Bulldogs and Auburn heads into the open week with two straight losses.

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn football vs. Georgia: Scouting report, score prediction