The Auburn Tigers are 2½-point college football wagering favorites when they meet the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2017 SEC Championship Game, and why wouldn’t they be? After all, Auburn “whipped the dog crap out of them,” as head coach Gus Malzahn described their 40-17 win over Georgia in November, the Bulldogs’ only loss of the regular season. Now if they can do it again, they will win the SEC championship and potentially earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.
- Date: December 2nd.
- Time: 4:05 PM
- Venue: Mercedes–Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
- Sportsbook Vegas odds College Football Betting:
Georgia +2½ (-110) 49 (-110) +115
Auburn -2½ (-110) 49 (-110) -135
Carry on, Kerryon
Running back and SEC leading rusher Kerryon Johnson, who injured his right shoulder against Alabama, is day-to-day, Gus Malzahn suggested on Sunday on a conference call, and could play against Georgia. “Yeah, I hope so,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “I think he’ll do everything he can do to get ready to go.” Johnson had 167 yards against the Bulldogs and ranks ninth in the nation with 1,276 yards and 17 touchdowns on 250 carries.
On Saturday, Kerryon Johnson carried @AuburnFootball over No. 1 Alabama with his 8️⃣th 100-yard performance of the season. #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/hnDmhoNFSl
— NCAA Football (@NCAAFootball) November 27, 2017
On the subject of playing Georgia twice in only a few weeks, said Lindsey: “It’s a challenge, for sure, especially [a team] that’s really good like this one. I think it just comes down to you try to get your players in a position to play well and win and give them the best opportunity based on the game plan. I’m sure they’re doing the same thing on their side. At the end of the day, this is a players’ game, and we’ll put them in position to make plays and see what happens.” Auburn is 4-0 ATS in the last four conference games and 4-1 against the college football wagering spread in their last five against a team with a winning record.
Leave the memories alone
“You don’t shake a memory,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. Well, you can if the memory was captured by a Polaroid. “You put it in their face and you challenge people, and you play more physical. You strike people and get off blocks and if you’re on offense, you strike people and stay on blocks. Fundamentally, we’ve got to play better than we played last time. We’ve obviously got to play with a little more composure to avoid the knucklehead decisions that we had in the game.” the Bulldogs were held to just 46 rushing yards on 32 carries by the Tigers on November 11th. Additionally, Georgia had several 15-yard penalties and muffed a punt that the Tigers duly ran away with. Smart has been in seven SEC Championship games as an assistant coach, and his team has won in six of those occasions. Georgia is 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games overall, 7-3 ATS in their last 10 conference matchups while the under is 17-7 in their last 24 games following a win, and 5-2 against the college football wagering spread in the last nine encounters between these two schools.