If my great-grandmother were still here on earth, she might have a page in her playbook to offer to Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze this week.

And if Freeze were smart, he’d at least hear her out.

No, my nannie wouldn’t have the answers to Auburn’s quarterback situation or how the Tigers could put their best foot forward against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

However, thanks to one fall Saturday sometime in the 1940s, my nannie learned quick that when you’re trying to win over someone who doesn’t care for the Georgia Bulldogs, it might be in your best interest to at least act like you don’t like them either.

My nannie was a native of Norfolk, Va., but eventually found herself courting a gentleman from north central Florida after she and her family moved to the area.

Story goes, she dove into the lake headfirst and broke her neck when she hit the bottom. Diving in after her was my great-grandaddy and allegedly the rest was history.

But one important chapter of their story was a trip to Jacksonville for the annual Florida-Georgia (or Georgia-Florida, depending on who you ask) rivalry game. It was one of their first dates and considering it required my great-grandaddy taking my nannie beyond the county line, it was a pretty big deal.

Though things were seemingly becoming serious between the two, the budding romance nearly came to a screeching halt when my nannie waltzed out of her house that Saturday wearing a black skirt and red blouse.

My great-grandaddy tried his hardest to stay cool, but eventually made a pitstop at one of the roadside t-shirt stands on the way to up to Jacksonville, picked her up a Florida Gators t-shirt that was surely tacky looking and politely asked if she would mind changing.

A trooper she was, so she obliged.

I couldn’t tell you what year that was exactly, but considering Florida won just two games against Georgia that decade, the likelihood that the Gators won the game that day are slim to none. But my great-grandaddy still came home a winner as his willing date went on to become his wife of more than 50 years shortly thereafter.

And that’s where Freeze’s lesson is to be learned: If you want a relationship to last, you sometimes have to have bit of a herd mentality – especially when the relationship is in the beginning stages and especially when it has to do with disliking the Georgia Bulldogs.

When asked about this weekend’s rivalry matchup against Georgia during his press conference Monday, Freeze had an interesting response.

“I’m new here, but I don’t sense the hatred that is in some other rivalries that I’ve been a part of,” Freeze said.

And at first, there might’ve been some truth to that.

For the better part of a 42-year span from 1916 to 1958, the game was held in Columbus, Ga. And it was there in 1920 that Georgia fought its way to a 7-0 win to give Auburn its first loss of the season.

After the game, Georgia fans paraded and partied into the night. The kicker? Auburn fans joined them.

“The most interesting feature of an Auburn-Georgia game is the splendid friendly relations between the two colleges,” The Columbus Ledger claimed after the fact. “If Auburn had to lose a game of football, no worthier victor would be picked than the Red and Black team.”

It wasn’t 40 years later that the two program’s attitudes of one another changed.

In the 1956 edition of the rivalry, a pair of Auburn defenders sacked Georgia quarterback and star pitcher Billy Hearn, causing him to suffer a separated shoulder. The Tigers intercepted a pass from the arm of Georgia’s backup on the ensuing play and a skirmish broke out at the line of scrimmage.

Sidelines cleared and the brawl continued until the Auburn band began playing the national anthem, which resulted in both teams retuning to their respective sidelines out of respect for their country.

And while Douglas Stutsman, author of the book “The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry Auburn vs. Georgia” says the 1956 matchup remains the “most violent”, there’s still been a handful of spats between the two programs since.

In 1971 Auburn visited Athens for another matchup of unbeatens and students at Georgia were sure to remind the Tigers they were in enemy territory as members of Georgia fraternities rang bells and beat on the doors of the rooms the Auburn football team was sleeping in that night. Fans went on to rock the team busses the day of the game and later damaged the police car used to escort the Tigers back to Auburn.

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Then you’ve got the 1986 game in Jordan-Hare Stadium, where the Bulldogs upset the Tigers 20-16, leading to Georgia fans rushing the field and some ripping away at the Auburn logo at midfield.

In an effort to disperse the celebrating fans, Paul Conner — who was hired by Auburn coach Pat Dye to redesign Auburn’s field — was instructed to open the sprinkler valves, dousing Georgia fans on a chilly November evening.

In a case of irony, Conner was set to speak at turf conference at the University of Georgia the following Monday. When he asked Dye if he should follow through with the obligation after what had transpired days before, Dye ripped off a zinger that few have forgotten.

“Tell those Georgia students that dogs need a bath once in a while anyways,” Dye responded.

Now, compare a comment like that to the ones Freeze made on Monday.

To play devil’s advocate, Freeze is new here. And he likely doesn’t want to pretend that he knows what it’s like to be an Auburn fan that dislikes Georgia.

Again, that’s where that herd mentality has gotta come into play.

But instead of taking a page out of my nannie’s playbook on Monday, he nearly took a line out of The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”.

“I’m not big on hate,” Freeze said Monday. “I’m really not. I’m big on just, man, this means something to so many people. So we should compete in a way out of love for our people, not necessarily for hate for other people.”

“That’s kind of the way I operate, but man, I hope we compete because we love Auburn and it means something to the Auburn people to compete against Georgia. So that’ll be my approach. But nonetheless, that love is a great motivator for me.”

All that’s awfully noble of Freeze to say, but if he thinks his players or fanbase will approach it the same way, he’s mistaken.

Auburn tight end Luke Deal and safety Zion Puckett are two veteran guys on the Tigers’ roster and have both lined up in this rivalry a handful of times. And when they learned of Freeze’s comments Monday, they both said something in the vein of “he’s about to find out”.

The ask isn’t to disrespect Georgia, but disliking Georgia?

That’s a sport in itself at Auburn.

And I don’t say that because I know what it’s like to be an Auburn fan and dislike Georgia. Instead, I say that as the great-granddaughter of an ol’ Florida boy who passed down his thoughts on the matter — first to his future wife and then down every branch of the family tree since.

All that said, I’m well aware that each rivalry in the SEC is very different and independent from one another and mean a ton to the respective programs and fanbases.

And one thing is for certain: If Freeze uses similar comments leading up to the other big rivalry game Auburn plays in the weekend after Thanksgiving?

Whew, buddy.