Let it sink in, Georgia football is playing in their second national championship in four years, and as surreal as that sounds, it’s true. This feat is one of the many reasons the Dawgs hired head coach Kirby Smart.
The Dawgs aren’t just going 10-2 each year. Instead, they’re winning the SEC East and contending in the playoffs or landing New York Six bowls.
Smart has this program headed in the right direction, and he could check off another thing on Monday if he can beat Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Georgia football can do the impossible and win a national championship, but they need to be themselves.
These two teams just faced off with each other a little over a month ago, and it was quite a heartbreaking loss. Some may feel like the most heartbreaking one in recent years, but those are new Georgia fans and didn’t sit through that 2015 game in the rain.
However, it’s eerie how calm I am about this game. Win or lose — fans should all appreciate where Georgia football is right now and trust Smart is leading this program in the right direction.
The Dawgs fell to Alabama seven consecutive times, and if this football season tells us anything, it’s the one where streaks end and teams get redemption over opponents they’ve struggled to in recent years. Georgia fell to Alabama 41-24, which is the exact score of the game that happened in 2020, so that says something, right? Not really, but it’s the tiny moral victories Georgia fans can appreciate.
This matchup happens in the same season, and we’ve seen what Smart and his staff can do against opponents they face off with twice in one year. While there have been many new faces on both the team and staff since that 2017 Auburn SEC Championship game, it still holds weight.
Georgia has what it takes to win the national championship. As the older saying goes, defense wins championships, and while recent years have proven its explosive offenses, this squad is different. This offense is built differently and led by a pack of players who will do whatever it takes to win.
However, it’s Alabama, and they have a mental chokehold on the Dawgs. Though the last few days, it seems the Dawgs are cool, calm and ready for this gauntlet of a battle coming on Monday night. These are six things Georgia football must try to find a way to do against Alabama if they want to end a 41-year drought.