Georgia football great Herschel Walker talked with the media on Tuesday and had plenty to say about the team. He also gave his input about Georgia vs. Alabama.
Former Georgia football star, Herschel Walker, was in attendance at SEC Media Days on Tuesday. While he fielded questions from the media, there was one question and answer that particularly stood out.
Herschel Walker is known as one of the greatest players in college football history, and without much argument, the greatest in the history of the Georgia program.
Walker knows what it’s like to play in big games wearing the black and red. He made an appearance at the SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama this week and he conducted several interviews.
One of his most interesting responses on the day was his expressed desire to see his Bulldogs meet the Tide again this season. We believe Walker is right, and this article will serve to provide several reasons as to why.
Nick Saban vs. Kirby Smart
Most college football fans are very aware of the relationship that these two head coaches share.
Smart served within Saban’s staff at two different universities and one NFL franchise, spending eight years as his defensive coordinator at Alabama from 2008 to 2015.
Saban has an impressive 16-0 record against all his former assistants that have gone on to be head coaches.
Many of those wins were by comfortable margins in which Saban’s assistant looked inferior and overmatched by their former boss. But with Smart, that storyline has been much different.
Alabama has won the last two games against the Bulldogs, in the 2017 College Football Playoff Championship and 2018 SEC Championship.
But in those games, it was Georgia that held double-digit leads and looked the better team for the majority of both games.
Georgia and Clemson are the only two programs in the last five years that have shown that they can compete with Alabama on more than one occasion.
Familiarity
Alabama and Georgia are two programs that would not classify each other as rivals, but as these last two games have played out, it’s obvious that many of the players do not like each other.
Since Smart took over at Georgia, many of the players on both rosters were heavily recruited by both programs.
These players know each other well as they have competed in camps and showcases while in high school, and now in consecutive games.
Alabama standout’s Dylan Moses and Jerry Jeudy both stated in interviews that Georgia was the toughest team they played last season, although they lost comfortably to Clemson in the National Championship.
The Bulldogs must not overlook any opponents on the upcoming 2019 schedule, but certainly one of their goals should be to get over that “hump” and take down the Tide.
Several fascinating story lines run between both teams as they know each other quite well on and off the field.
Georgia’s Climb to the top of the SEC
Since the Smart era began, there has been much to be excited about for Georgia fans.
In Smart’s second and third year, he led the Bulldogs to a combined record of 24-5 with one SEC Championship in two appearances, a Rose Bowl win, and a national championship appearances.
Smart brought the Bulldogs to a level of recruiting that the program has never seen. His first three recruiting classes finished the rankings at No. 3, No. 1, and No. 2 respectively.
His fourth recruiting class is currently ranks as the No. 6 overall class on 247Sports Composite rankings.
Currently, the Bulldogs have more five-star recruits on their roster than any other program in the country.
While they are right at the cusp, Smart wants to put his stamp as an elite national program, and beating the dynasty that has been Alabama is a perfect way to do just that.
Jake Fromm vs. Tua Tagovailoa
National darling Tua Tagovailoa was the all the talk last season after his miraculous “tag-in” during the 2017 National Championship after he took over for starter Jalen Hurts.
Tagovailoa led the Tide to a comeback win featuring a game-winning deep pass to claim the national title over the Bulldogs. After that game, he became a national darling.
He put up outrageous stats this past season while not even playing in most of the 4th quarters for the Tide.
On the other hand, Jake Fromm often carries the label of “game manager” and not a truly elite quarterback with minimal NFL upside. It was evident that Fromm, as well as the Georgia defense, had a chip on their shoulder when it came to this.
In last year’s SEC Championship game, Fromm threw for an impressive 300 yards with three touchdowns against the Tide.
On the other hand, Tagovailoa had a poor showing with only 164 yards and two interceptions before being taken out of the game due to injury.
Overall, Fromm now has an even bigger chip on his shoulder looking to knock off the Tide this year if they meet. Tagovailoa is looking to redeem himself after the poor performance last year and show that he can once again be a factor against Georgia’s tough defense.
Lastly, we believe Herschel Walker is entirely right for wanting these two to go head-to-head again in the SEC Championship game.
The first two games have been classics, and there is no evidence to suggest that a third match up would not provide fans with the same.
All college football fans should be hoping to see Georgia vs. Alabama 3.0 because it should be a great contest between two of the top programs in college football.