While Auburn enters its Week 6 matchup with Georgia looking to avoid a three-game losing streak on the season, the Tigers also hope to snap a seven-game losing streak against Georgia.

Auburn came close to upsetting the Bulldogs last season, losing 27-20 after some late-game heroics from Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers.

Both teams look different heading into this year’s match and the circumstances are unique. Georgia comes into the game coming off its first regular-season loss since 2020 and Auburn is coming off back-to-back disappointing losses in the Southeastern Conference.

Here are three questions for the Tigers as they head to Athens:

Can Auburn make the game competitive?

Point spreads are what they are for a reason. And there are plenty of good reasons why Auburn is a 24.5-point underdog against Georgia.

The Tigers have been outmatched in almost every facet of this game, and it doesn’t help that this is the first road game of the season for an overwhelmingly young roster.

However, the same applied last season, except that we had to go on the road. Despite being overmatched, Auburn went on to face Georgia for four quarters and had chances to win.

Both teams are obviously different from that game, but it gives a sense of belief to the players who were part of it.

“Take it from last year, we can play with the best teams in the country, and we’ve proven that multiple times,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said Tuesday.

Auburn’s chances of winning the game are slim, but virtually no one realistically expects Auburn to win this game. The bigger question is whether the Tigers can be competitive again.

After three losses already, no one in the Auburn locker room will be all that interested in more moral victories, but playing a competitive game against Georgia would answer a lot of questions about the state of the team and whether or not Hugh Freeze can maintain the lead . group does not end up in a spiral.

Will the turnover finally come to an end?

Auburn ranks last in the SEC in turnover margin this season, and that’s not close.

Turnovers have been the story of all three of Auburn’s losses, with 10 combined losses to Cal and Arkansas and a decisive pick six being the difference against Oklahoma.

The Week 5 loss to Oklahoma marked the first time Auburn didn’t have multiple turnovers all season, but the Tigers have yet to play a turnover-free game. Against Georgia, even a clean match may not be enough.

“It’s going to take pretty much a flawless game to get a chance to go to Athens and upset Georgia,” Freeze said Wednesday.

While Georgia’s defense is impressive, it has forced just four turnovers this season, a much lower number than Oklahoma last week.

But so far this season, it didn’t matter who the other team was; Auburn is owed at least a turnover or two. Last week felt like a small step in the right direction despite the loss, but can the Tigers play clean football on the road against a top five team?

How will the defense handle its biggest test yet?

Auburn’s defense has been the team’s biggest bright spot through five games, but will face its toughest challenge yet on Saturday.

While Georgia’s offense hasn’t shown the consistency of recent seasons, it still has the personnel to cause problems for any defense.

Against Alabama, the Bulldogs had over 500 yards of total offense but turned the ball over four times. Despite the turnovers, it was Georgia’s most productive offensive game of the season and showed how explosive the offense can still be.

A handful of true freshmen have earned significant playing time on Auburn’s defense, and this will be a step forward from the offenses they have faced thus far.

With the inconsistency shown from Auburn’s offense recently, the defense has no choice but to perform to keep the Tigers in this game. If it can continue to look at how it has done over the first part of the season, it would be an encouraging sign for the future of the unit.

Peter Rauterkus reports for Auburn Sports AL.com. You can follow him on X on @peter_rauterkus or email him [email protected]M