Georgia Football: The moment is now for the Dawgs

Georgia football takes on Alabama in the SEC Championship this week. Since the Tech game went final, I have felt negativity around the Georgia fanbase. Now, look, I was also negative; go back and look at the instant reaction I wrote Saturday night.

But after thinking about it for myself, I chalked it up to an NFL pre-season game. Nobody got hurt; we did enough to win and showed nothing on film. Kirby Smart once again proves he is a genius. So, outside of the report cards blog I write every Monday morning, I will never discuss that game again.

But back to the negative, pessimistic feeling I get with Georgia fans. I will probably write something else about the fanbase Munson-ing this week, but we all need to get our minds right for this game! The SEC crown is at stake here! CFP Playoff hopes are on the line; stop being afraid!

There are moments in sports where this happens. It is called passing the torch. It happens in basketball, e.g., Magic and Bird passing it to Jordan. It happens in boxing, e.g., Ali vs. Frazier, Holmes vs. Ali, Rocky Marciano vs. Joe Louis. It also happens in football. It happens in the NFL and has also happened in college football. This is that type of moment.

Georgia is now the king of the college football world. Not only has Kirby built a machine in Athens, but he has also adapted to the world of N.I.L. and the transfer portal. Georgia is the back-to-back national champions and has won 45 out of the last 46 games they have played in. When Georgia lost the national championship against Alabama on that cold January night in Atlanta in 2018, Kirby Smart said that Georgia is built to sustain and would not be going anywhere. Six years later, the Dawgs have won two national titles.

Nick Saban is the greatest coach of all time. That is a fact we can all agree on. But the Saban era at Alabama is going to end soon. The man is 72 years old; he might have five years left in the tank. Saban is smart enough not to pull a Joe Paterno and coach for life. The erosion of time is starting to show as well. The coaching staff is not as good as it once was, and the players are not as disciplined as they once were.  Alabama is in decline. It is a slow process because of how good of a coach Nick Saban is, but it is noticeable when you watch.

To the Alabama fans reading this to fire themselves up, I have Bama friends who have said exactly what I just wrote to my face. So if you are upset about that, talk to your own before going after “ignorant” Georgia fans. The simple fact is that Alabama fears Georgia now. They do not want to admit it; it makes them uncomfortable, but they fear Kirby Smart and the Georgia football program.

I wanted this match-up last year when Saban went on TV crying for a playoff spot. I wanted Georgia to crush Alabama. I wanted Alabama fans to stop using injuries to discredit Georgia, winning a national title against the almighty Tide as a fluke. I had little confidence Alabama would get to Atlanta pre-season this year, but I picked them because I wanted Georgia and Kirby Smart to have one last dance with Nick Saban and Alabama—that time has come.

This is the passing of the torch moment for the Georgia football program. All that we have hoped and dreamed for awaits us with a victory over Alabama. No, the goal is not finished until the Dawgs vanquish Alabama in the SEC title game and keep Bama out of the playoffs. Alabama, particularly Saban, has broken our hearts so many times. Now, it is our turn to return the favor. Stop with the Munson-ing; stop with the pessimism. The time is now; the moment has arrived.