Auburn will bring two solid rushers with them to Athens for their game against No. 2 Georgia on Saturday.
[autotag]Tank Bigsby[/autotag] holds the team lead in rushing with 326 yards and four touchdowns, while quarterback [autotag]Robby Ashford[/autotag] has 223 rushing yards in addition to his 709 passing yards.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart knows both of these athletes very well from the recruiting trail. Ashford took several visits to Georgia while Bigsby, a Georgia native, was heavily recruited by Smart and Georgia running backs coach Dell McGee.
During his weekly press conference, Smart says that Ashford’s shifty style of play is difficult to defend.
“(Ashford) is really special in terms of twitch, being elusive, his best plays sometimes are plays that end up being broken plays,” Smart said of Ashford. “He guy can take off and really hurt you, he can beat you with his arm, especially on scrambles, they had a huge play last week off of a scramble play.”
To defend Ashford, Smart says that he will need increased discipline from his defense. He says that he expects his defense to turn up their intensity, as they will need to find ways to slow Ashford down.
“Being disciplined in your rush lanes, being disciplined in your coverage responsibilities when a quarterback scrambles will probably happen more often this week than most weeks just because of the athlete (Ashford) is,” Smart said.
Smart respects Bigsby’s ability to be explosive in both the pass and rush game. He also describes Bigsby as a running back that gets better with every carry he receives.
“He’s one of those backs, like the good ones, they get better with their carries,” Smart said. “He’s extremely physical and runs with low pad level, and he’s one of these typical SEC backs that you better bring your lunch pail when you come to tackle him.”
This weekend’s clash will between Auburn’s No. 66 rush offense against Georgia’s rush defense, which is ranked No. 12 in the nation. Auburn rushes for 159 yards per game, while the Bulldogs allow just 89 yards on the ground per game.
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