AUBURN — For Auburn, playing Arkansas and Oklahoma at home is one thing. Facing No. 5 Georgia on the road, a program with two national titles in the last three years and one of the Tigers’ biggest rivals, is an entirely different challenge.

“I mean, it just has to be another level of focus because we’re going into a hostile environment,” Damari Alston said of his message to his teammates, especially the freshmen making an impact early this season.

“It’s not like being at home for five weeks. Nothing is hostile at all. When you’re at home, everything is in our favor. It’s just another level of focus and you have to, your preparation has to take another step because we’re on the road this whole month.”

After Georgia, there’s a bye week before trips to Missouri and Kentucky in back-to-back weeks.

If Auburn wants to compete on Saturday, mistakes have to be at a minimum. Mainly, that means turnovers have to trend sharply down. The Tigers have thrown nine interceptions and lost six fumbles in five games.

Alston still remembers his fumble in the Arkansas game going into the end zone. It was a costly mistake that likely cost Auburn points. And while a full game has passed, another heartbreaker against Oklahoma, Alston still isn’t quite over his untimely miscue.

“Oh, my God,” Alston said on Tuesday. “I was in a state of shock right when it happened. When we lost the game, I felt like it was on me. I definitely took accountability for that. That was a rough weekend for me. You have to bounce back from things like that.”

Alston said emphasizing fundamentals in practice can help, but at the end of the day, you simply have to execute when the lights are the brightest.

“We work ball security every week, so we haven’t been doing anything different,” Alston said. “The difference is your mindset, the mentality when it comes to the ball. I told the scout team, ‘when y’all are coming at me, punch at the ball.’ But I mean, it hasn’t really been nothing different. You can’t really think about the ball as much when you’re running because I feel like that’s going to throw your whole game off.”

Oklahoma’s defense was ranked inside the top 30 nationally, but Auburn found success, putting up nearly 500 total yards. If not for missed field goals and a failed fourth-and-goal, the Tigers should have topped 30 points.

“Us going out there and putting on tape good things against that defense so that we can go out and do the same this week,” gives Alston hope. “(Georgia) plays hard, they’re always going to play hard, never give up. They run to the football. I respect those guys, but fear nobody. We have to go into this game with a resilient mindset, persevere and do what we do. We’re going to go in there and give them all we got.”

Interestingly enough, with as good as Georgia’s defense is capable of being, they have only forced four turnovers this season. That’s the same number as Auburn’s defense.

Georgia has beaten Auburn 18 of the last 23 times. There is one positive data point to look to, as Auburn lost 27-21 to Georgia last season inside Jordan-Hare Stadium, leading much of the game. Alston, being a Georgia-born player, remembers that game and is always ready for this matchup.

“It gave me some confidence,” Alston said of watching Auburn’s near-miss in last year’s contest. “I feel like that we have the team, we can go in there and if we just play hard, get to the fourth quarter, we’re not going to let one slip away from us again.”

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