Is Auburn-Georgia rivalry dirtiest in college football?
WIth the 115th meeting between these two schools upcoming, it seems appropriate to look at the “South’s oldest rivalry”. Charles Bennett of the Anniston Star takes a look at these schools and discusses the heated behavior between the schools over the last few seasons. According to the Wall Street Journal in an analysis of the top rivalries in the country, The Georgia-Auburn rivalry ranks number one when it comes to behavior related penalties, averaging 5.4 per game over the last five years. Bennett discusses this fact with many players and coaches as they look forward to Saturday’s matchup.
Many remember how the game seemingly got out of hand last season as there were a few questionable hits on Georgia quarterback, Aaron Murray, one that knocked him out of the game. Murray seemed to have left this behind though and was more focused on playing the game this weekend instead of getting back at Auburn for last season. THis seems to be the mentality of all players and coaches going into Saturday. The fact that there are many players who are different from last seasons bunch will also dull down what occurred last season. Thus, many are going into the game wanting to play football and give everything they have on the field. They understand that both teams want to win, but are not seeking to get revenge on certain players.
As heated as this rivalry is, it isn’t so much of a hate issue, but more of what tends to be the stakes at hand. As close as this game usually results and what the record stands between these two, it is typical for a lot of fierce, intense play between the two teams. The rivalry has a lot of meaning to it! Keeping this in mind the players need not to focus on the “hate” as much as they should about winning the game! By losing your cool in a game like this, you only take away from your team winning. It will be important to keep to your gameplan in this game, seeing how a lot is on the line in this fierce rivalry.
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College Sports and the Media 
The annual Georgia-Auburn matchup is, indeed, an intense rivalry. In years past “behavior-related” penalties have been issues—especially in last year’s game. Thousands of people watching the game saw Nick Fairley’s late and occasionally dirty hits on UGA quarterback Aaron Murray. In fact, several sports commentators pointed out that the referees should have been less passive in their penalizations throughout the contest. Because they were too passive, the game almost got out of hand. Fortunately, this year’s game was relatively free from “extra-curricular” activities such as dirty play and trash talking. The Dawgs knew that this game was all business, and for that they paid little mind to what happened during last year’s game. This approach was clearly effective as they dominated all four quarters of the game.
All in all, the Georgia-Auburn game is traditionally intense—full of emotion and passion. Winning this game is a priority for both teams and for that personal fouls are inevitable.