The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry is set to be renewed when Auburn heads to Athens for their game against Georgia. It’s a game that Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is excited for the opportunity to play every season.

Naturally, part of what makes this rivalry great is its history. So, for Smart, teaching that history to the team has become one of the important tasks he has in the lead-up to the game.

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“It’s us,” Kirby Smart said. “Because [Travaris Robinson] and Stacy [Searels] played there. Knowing a lot of us played in it between Jonas [Jennings], myself, Jarvis [Jones], [Mike] Bobo. All the guys that played in the game, that’s all I’m referencing, I just think it’s important that you know that history.”

Both teams are coming into the rivalry game this season off a loss, with the Bulldogs suffering an emotional defeat on the road against Alabama. Meanwhile, Auburn has been dealing with a frustrating start to the season and lost its first two conference games, both of which were at home.

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Georgia and Auburn have been playing since 1892 and since then have had 128 total meetings against one another with the Bulldogs leading the all-time series with an overall record of 64-56-8.

These types of lessons are nothing new. Kirby Smart had them with his coaches back in his playing days. However, he does think that preexisting knowledge has changed in players.

“We still had them. We had history lessons. We had coaches that told us the history of every game. I mean, we had them. I knew them because I grew up in a football family and loved football,” Smart said. “All I did was watch football, but that’s not what these kids do today. I don’t think these kids know as much. They don’t watch football, a lot of them. They just play it, but they don’t watch it. I don’t know. You ask them, ‘Who’s your favorite NFL team?’ ‘I don’t know.’ They’ve got more, more things to do. They got more attention options. They’re going to be on their phone, looking at social media and doing whatever. They’re not going to watch. It’s just not what they do anymore, so I think it’s important to make sure they understand.”

Since Kirby Smart became the head coach of Georgia, the Bulldogs have dominated this series. That run started in 2016 when Smart and Georgia earned the win over the Tigers. Overall, he’s put together a record of 8-1 against Auburn and has won seven straight games. That includes in the 2017 SEC Championship Game.

Georgia and Auburn will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. EST on Saturday, October 5th.

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