Robby Ashford’s first career road game might as well be trial by fire.

The redshirt freshman is preparing to make his third consecutive start this season, but his first away from Jordan-Hare Stadium. The task? Go into Sanford Stadium and attempt to lead Auburn past No. 2 Georgia, the defending national champion.

“You’re going to go into a hostile environment; you’re not going to be favored when you get in there,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. “That’s part of the mental side of playing that position.”

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Not only will Auburn not be favored when it travels to Athens, Ga., this weekend; the Tigers will be four-touchdown underdogs against the Bulldogs in the 127th installment of The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. No one is exactly giving Auburn much of a chance to pull the upset between the hedges, but the Tigers’ best hopes rest on the shoulders of Ashford, who has shown promise sprinkled between the growing pains that have come with his first season of action.

After failing to see the field in two seasons at Oregon, the former Hoover star transferred to Auburn in the offseason and has appeared in all five games for the Tigers this fall. He opened the year as No. 2 on the quarterback depth chart but still played a role in a two-quarterback system through the first three games. Following a shoulder injury sustained by starter T.J. Finley in last month’s loss to Penn State, Ashford has been thrust into the starting role, making his first career start against Missouri and then his second last weekend against LSU.

His performance in Auburn’s 21-17 loss to LSU was his best to date, but it wasn’t without its flaws. He completed 19-of-38 passes for a career-high 337 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 17.7 yards per completion while completing seven passes of at least 20 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown to Ja’Varrius Johnson. But Ashford also threw an interception on Auburn’s final offensive snap — though not completely on him, as LSU’s Greg Brooks Jr. ripped the ball away from wide receiver Koy Moore — and fumbled four times, losing one of them.

“He did some really good things in that game,” Harsin said. “He’s a playmaker, and he can do more, and I think the confidence that he took away from the LSU game — we have to build on that, and then obviously be better going into this one.”

Ashford has now completed 46-of-85 passes (54.1 percent) for 709 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He has also run for 223 yards and another touchdown.

Now Ashford will take the show on the road for the first time, playing in front of more than 92,000 rabid fans at Sanford Stadium this weekend. He has yet to play a college game away from home, and his last home game at any level was the final game of his senior season in a playoff loss to Thompson in 2019.

“I think for Robby, it’s still to continue to just play within himself,” Harsin said. “He’s learning, he’s growing, he’s developing…. But the noise is really the biggest factor, and then just handling, really, every play when you’re on the road. That’s really what it comes down to, and I think that’s the one thing from coaching that position and playing it, it’s just handling — really, just handle each and every play. Focus on the sideline, get the call in, communicate that, make sure that everybody’s on the same page. Know that you’re not going to be able to yell out information to guys, so you got to make sure that either it’s a hand signal or whatever you have to do to make that adjustment. Keep everybody on the same page and then execute the play that’s in front of you.”

Even that will be a difficult ask against a Georgia defense that has been stellar so far this season. The Bulldogs are fourth nationally and tops in the SEC in scoring defense, allowing just 10.8 points per game. They’re also 18th in passing defense (175.2 yards per game) while giving up just three touchdowns through the air and ranking 13th in pass efficiency defense (107.61).

Georgia’s run defense has been similarly stout, limiting opponents to 89.2 yards per game and just 3.46 yards per carry.

While Ashford will try to help Auburn crack the code to Georgia’s defense, the Bulldogs are preparing for the young dual-threat quarterback and everything he brings to the table. Georgia is plenty familiar with Ashford, despite Saturday marking the first time it will face him. Kirby Smart’s staff recruited and offered Ashford out of Hoover, and Bulldogs wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon was on staff at Oregon during Ashford’s two seasons there.

“He is a tremendous athlete,” Smart said. “Coach B-Mac had him at Oregon when he was there and talked about how phenomenal an athlete he is. He worked out with the receivers and athletes. Didn’t even work out with the quarterbacks during a lot of their conditioning program. You see it on tape. He is really special in terms of twitch, being elusive. His best plays sometimes are plays that end up being broken plays. The guy can take off and really hurt you, beat with you his arm, especially on scrambles.”

Georgia knows it will have to be disciplined with its rush lanes and coverage assignments, particularly when Ashford is forced to scramble. Some of Ashford’s biggest plays against LSU came when he had to extend things with his legs, and Georgia is well-aware of that.

“The maturity that he’s showing each and every game is getting better, so we’ll see how that looks this week,” Harsin said. “We’ve got to focus on us. We’ve got to make sure that we’re doing things on the offensive side of the ball that we can control and then just handle the environment when we’re there.”

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.