When Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford lines up behind center Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium, he will be facing a Tiger defense that has made a nasty habit of harassing opposing quarterbacks.

The Auburn defense, led by first year D-coordinator, former Roman, and Georgia Bulldog, Will Muschamp, is 4th in points allowed (11.5) and 13th in yards (276.0).

Muschamp, 35, was a standout at Darlington in Rome and walked on at Georgia, eventually becoming a defensive co-captain as a senior. This is his first year as head of #5 Tigers defense, but Muschamp already has compiled a wealth of experience since his playing days at Georgia. He has a BCS National Championship ring from a stint as D-coordinator with LSU from 2002-2004 and a year of NFL experience with the Miami Dolphins in 2005.

“We’ve incorporated some things that we used at Miami”, Muschamp said, “but we’ve gone back to a little bit of a spoon-feeding process to make sure we can handle what we’ve got on our plate and that we can execute it on game day.” Muschamp speaks highly of the job Georgia coach Mark Richt has done since coming to the Bulldogs in 2001.

Though this year has been somewhat of a disappointment for the Dogs, he mentions that starting a freshman quarterback, struggling with an injured defensive line, and dropped passes has made it just “one of those years”. Muschamp remembers “one of those years” in 1994 when he was a member of the last Georgia team to lose to Vanderbilt.

The Georgia Bulldogs and Auburn Tigers kick off at 12:30 at Jordon-Hare Stadium in Auburn. The game will be televised on the Lincoln Financial Network.