As a Georgia fan, I hate Alabama week.
Not because I hate Alabama more than any other team Georgia plays. Not because I don't believe in Kirby Smart or think Georgia can't win. Not because I believe Alabama under Kalen DeBoer is just as intimidating as it was under Nick Saban.
I hate Alabama week because no matter how good Georgia looks, no matter how vulnerable Alabama might seem, and no matter how little the game might actually mean in the grand scheme of the season, I get the same knot in my stomach every single time.
It's exhausting.
Georgia could be undefeated, and Alabama could be having its worst season in a decade, and I'd still spend the entire week convincing myself something terrible was about to happen.
Why does every game against Alabama have to feel like the national championship?
Alabama catastrophes have conditioned Georgia fans to expect the worst
It wasn't always this way. Georgia didn't play Alabama very often, and when we did play, it was usually a toss-up. And if we lost, no big deal. They weren't a traditional rival. We'd get them next time.
Then 2012 happened.
From the time the final seconds ran off the clock in the 2012 SEC Championship Game, and Aaron Murray stood there just wishing for a few more ticks, Alabama became unlocked nightmare fuel for every Georgia fan.
After that, games against Alabama seemed cursed and brought anxiety, frustration, and high blood pressure to new levels for the entire Bulldog Nation. That game was the second in a string of seven straight losses to the Crimson Tide, and it was almost too much to endure.
The most devastating blow of that streak came in the 2018 National Championship Game, when the Dawgs finally had Bama on the ropes, and it looked like Kirby Smart was going to at last get the best of his former Sith mentor.
Until two things happened.
Tyler Simmons was incorrectly called offside on a blocked punt by the Bulldogs, and Nick Saban made the bold move to replace starting quarterback Jalen Hurts with backup Tua Tagovailoa in the second half. From there, it just snowballed.
26-23 Alabama, in overtime.
I was there. In the press box. In agony, and unable to release due to decorum rules. The pain I felt in my gut that night has returned every time we play Alabama, because it seems like I'm waiting for the other flag...I mean...shoe to drop
Georgia has won national championships. Georgia has beaten Alabama for a national championship. Georgia has whipped Alabama badly to win an SEC Championship. And somehow, Alabama Week still makes me feel like it's 2012 and 2018 all over again.
The point isn't that Georgia has never beaten Alabama. They have, including on the biggest stage; it's that the losses have left such an emotional imprint that the victories haven't completely erased it.
Not every Georgia vs. Alabama game needs to feel like life or death
It's inexplicable. Putting championship-level emotional weight on a regular-season game is absurd, yet here we are.
Georgia could lose and still have a path to the SEC Championship and the College Football Playoff. Logically, we all know that. Yet here I am, checking the expiration date on my Pepto-Bismol bottle and making sure celebratory bourbon is far away from the drown-your-sorrows bourbon, sitting at the very front of the shelf.
I can watch Georgia play almost anybody else and convince myself it's just another football game. Alabama? Suddenly I'm pacing around the house on a Wednesday, checking injury reports and mentally preparing for a missed field goal, a dropped pass, or a blown call by the officials that hasn't even happened yet.
Georgia isn't the program it was 15 years ago. Kirby Smart has built a national powerhouse, won championships, and demonstrated that the Bulldogs belong among the sport's elite. They are heavily favored in nearly every game and essentially never lose at home.
Except to Alabama (yes, I just pounded my head on the desk).
The rational Georgia fan (if there are any) knows there's no reason to treat Alabama like an unbeatable monster anymore. The emotional Georgia fan apparently hasn't gotten the message yet.
I just want to enjoy Alabama week for once
I'm not asking Georgia to beat Alabama by 30 points every time these teams meet. I'm not even asking to feel completely confident going into every matchup. I just want Alabama Week to feel like football again.
I want to look forward to these games instead of spending six days imagining everything that could possibly go wrong. I want to enjoy the buildup, appreciate the rivalry, and remember that even a loss doesn't have to define an entire season.
Mostly, I want to stop getting that knot in my stomach every time I see Alabama on Georgia's schedule. Just beat them, make it two in a row, and let us believe that the anxiety has no place to live anymore.
Kirby, please. I'm tired.
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