Throughout fall camp, running backs Shaun Shivers, Tank Bigsby and Mark-Antony Richards all received praise for their performances in practice.

But against Kentucky, it was a lackluster performance out of the backs, with them combining for 20 carries and 65 yards and one touchdown from D.J. Williams.

Heading into a matchup with one of the best run defenses in the country, Shivers knows what the backs need to improve on.

“Our running game is going to get more productive,” Shivers said. “It’s just the first game, Week 1. I’d just say for the first game the running backs, we played kinda good, but we need to work on being more patient. That’s really it, just being more patient.”

One way Auburn may look to get the running backs more involved comes with different schemes from offensive coordinator Chad Morris.

Against Kentucky, Auburn ran several different rushing concepts, but Gus Malzahn said Tuesday those will continue to change as the season goes on.

“You know, Chad's got the playbook,” Malzahn said. “He can do a lot of different things in the run game. So you'll see us each week. I really feel like we'll improve in the run game. But having a lot of different things you can do, I think is really good. And I think that the more that we can settle in on five linemen, like we talked about Sunday, that gel up front will also help as far as the run game goes.”

As for the five linemen blocking for the running backs, Auburn started against Kentucky with Alec Jackson, Tashawn Manning, Nick Brahms, Brandon Council and Brodarious Hamm, but finished with Austin Troxell in for Jackson and Keiondre Jones in place of Manning.

The official depth chart released Tuesday had no changes from the previous week.

Whoever the five linemen end up being, they’ll be matched up with a Georgia defensive line that returned the likes of Malik Herring, Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt. Behind them, Georgia returned linebackers Monty Rice, Quay Walker and Azeez Ojulari.

In 2019, the Georgia defense didn’t give up a rushing touchdown until Bo Nix took a 2-yard quarterback keeper into the endzone.

“They've got just about everybody back so you're looking at not just one of the best rushing defenses, if not the best rushing defense, in the country,” Malzahn said about Georgia’s defense.

But with an opportunity for revenge after a close defeat to the Bulldogs last year, Shivers is making sure his group is ready to roll.

“We know Georgia’s defense is one of the best in the SEC,” Shivers said. “We just gotta be prepared and be ready to fight because we know it’s going to be a dog fight so we just gotta come to play.”

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