Georgia trying to halt SEC East’s fading fortunes against West

Georgia fifth-year senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who had a 7-yard touchdown catch in last year's win over Auburn, says the Bulldogs are doing their part in SEC East vs. West matchups. Georgia fifth-year senior receiver Malcolm Mitchell, who had a 7-yard touchdown catch in last year's win over Auburn, says the Bulldogs are doing their part in SEC East vs. West matchups.

By David Paschall November 11, 2015 3 min read

ATHENS, Ga. – The scorecard is getting more and more unsightly for Eastern Division teams in Southeastern Conference football.

Saturday’s longstanding rivalry between Georgia and Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium will be the 12th matchup this season of East and West teams within the SEC. The West holds a 10-1 advantage, with Florida’s 38-10 surprise drubbing of visiting Ole Miss on Oct. 3 serving as the lone East win.

This year’s divisional chasm has been wider than a year ago, when the West went 11-4, which included Alabama’s 42-13 throttling of Missouri in the SEC title game.

“I don’t know why this is,” Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday. “They’re recruiting and coaching and whipping the East. They’re just doing a better job, and I don’t think there’s any other way of saying it.”

West is best

The Western Division of the SEC is 10-1 this football season against its Eastern counterparts:Sept. 26 — Ole Miss (W) 27, Vanderbilt 16Oct. 3 — Alabama (W) 38, Georgia 10Arkansas (W) 24, Tennessee 20Florida (E) 38, Ole Miss 10Oct. 10 — LSU (W) 45, South Carolina 24Oct. 15 — Auburn (W) 30, Kentucky 27Oct. 17 — LSU (W) 35, Florida 28Oct. 24 — Alabama (W) 19, Tennessee 14Mississippi State (W) 42, Kentucky (16Oct. 31 — Texas A&M (W) 35, South Carolina 28Nov. 5 — Miss. State (W) 31, Missouri 13

David Paschall

David Paschall has covered sports at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since 1999 and wrote for the Chattanooga Free Press in the nine years before that. David has mostly covered college athletics, with a focus on the University of Georgia from 2000 to 2019 and the University of Tennessee since 2020. He grew up in Chattanooga and is a graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received multiple writing awards and has served as a Heisman Trophy voter since 2003. He has also worked in radio in Chattanooga and has been on the SEC Network's "Classic Rewind" series since 2014. David and his wife, Kelly, have three children — Conner, Emily and Spencer.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.