ATHENS — When discussing the matchup of No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday, one must first deal with the elephant in the room.
In addition to being the mascot of the Crimson Tide, that elephant is the Bulldogs’ lack of success against Saturday’s opponent. It would not be a stretch to say that no football program has more thoroughly dominated Georgia than Alabama, though that statement requires some context.
There are several teams the Bulldogs have never beaten in their 132-year football history. But when that list includes opponents like Harvard and Holy Cross, which Georgia hasn’t played since the 1930s, that fact quickly falls to the wayside. There are similar anomalies when it comes to opponents the Bulldogs have met more recently but infrequently. For instance, most would not guess that Georgia never has beaten Pitt (0-3-1), which it last met in January 1982, or Southern Cal (0-3), which it hasn’t played since 1960, or West Virginia (0-1), which it has played once.
But when it comes to a team the Bulldogs have met with any sort of regularity, modern day or from the past, no team has more success against them than Alabama. Heading into Saturday’s game in Tuscaloosa, the 74th meeting between these border-state universities, the Crimson Tide owns a decided 17-game advantage in the series. They’re 43-26-4 against Georgia.
More notably, Bama has won eight of the past nine in the series. And from the Bulldogs’ perspective, some of those losses must be included among the more painful in program history.
“No school has taken more from Georgia than Alabama under Nick Saban’s watch,” said Jeff Dantzler, an Athens historian who conducts the Bulldogs’ pregame and postgame radio shows each fall. “A national championship in 2017, probably another in 2012 and maybe another one in 2018. We had double-digit leads in the second half of all three of those games. Just brutal heartbreak.”
For some perspective, Georgia has a winning record against the majority of its football opponents, including all of their traditional rivals. The Bulldogs sport significant winning margins against Auburn (plus-8), Florida (plus-12) and Tennessee (plus-5) and massive edges in long-standing series against Clemson (plus-26), Georgia Tech (plus-32), Kentucky (plus-52), Ole Miss (plus-30), South Carolina (plus-36) and Vanderbilt (plus-41).
But when it comes to conference opponents that Georgia meets with semi-regularity over the long haul, only Alabama (minus-17) and LSU (minus-4) have its number. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs-Bama rivalry has ramped up considerably. The teams haven’t met this often since ending a run of 16 consecutive regular seasons in 1965.
What’s notable about this particular time in the Georgia-Bama rivalry is the sheer magnitude of the matchups. Most of them came in the postseason with championships on the line. Most of them have gone the Tide’s way.
In his nine years as Georgia’s coach, Kirby Smart is 1-5 against Alabama. Quite famously, the Bulldogs vanquished the “Bama Beast” when it defeated the Crimson Tide 33-18 in Indianapolis to win the 2021 College Football Playoff championship. But all the rest have ended in heartbreak of the worst kind, and usually on grandest of stages.
At no time was that more profound than last season. The Bulldogs were back-to-back national champions, ranked No. 1 and undefeated for the second consecutive season when they arrived at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to face off against Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Georgia played its poorest game of the season, was victimized again by a referee’s controversial ruling and lost 27-24. The defeat not only robbed the Bulldogs of an SEC championship, but knocked them out of the College Football Playoff.
“Guys in the locker room were upset,” Smart said. “Everybody handles that in different ways. But I think the motivation it gives to guys to wanna come back and have an opportunity to win an SEC championship, which this group didn’t do last year, they have a chance to do that. It doesn’t all hinge on this game, but that game did. And I certainly think that a lot of our guys remember it.”
Oh, yes, they remember it.
“That kind of fueled a lot of guys throughout the offseason, you know; kind of gave a lot of guys something to work towards,” Georgia senior linebacker Smael Mondon said. “Not necessarily like a rematch with Alabama, but just like the ultimate goal of where we’re trying to get at the end of the season. But, you know, you still got to take it week by week, though. Like, be real process-oriented and enjoy the process.”
Said senior wideout Arian Smith: “We definitely have, like, a chip on our shoulder. We’re obviously another good team, just like they are. So, people can say what they say about the game and predictions. We’re just trying to not let that bother us and play the game like we do any other game.”
Of course, much has changed for both programs since that meeting in December in Atlanta. Most notably, Alabama no is longer coached by Saban. The Crimson Tide hired former Washington coach Kalen DeBoer after the 72-year-old Saban retired in January.
But it’s his relationship with Saban that makes the Alabama rivalry personal for Smart. He worked for Saban for 10 years during his coaching career, nine as Alabama’s defensive coordinator. All three of his children were born in Tuscaloosa. Smart owns six national championship rings. Four of them came from Alabama.
Though he’s not one to show emotion, Smart never has downplayed the influence that Saban had on his coaching career and philosophies. And while Saban won’t be on the Crimson Tide’s sideline at Bryant-Denny Stadium, his presence is expected to be prominent. Not only will Saban be a part of ESPN’s “College GameDay” show, his name will be on the field.
“I’m thrilled that he gets an opportunity to do what he wants to do and be with who he wants to be with and enjoy that,” Smart said. “I’m really happy he’s still part of college football because he makes college football better.”
It will not be Smart’s first trip back to “T-Town.” The Bulldogs went there in 2020, but under radically different circumstances amid COVID-19′s limited-attendance protocols.
“It was more strange then because of the stands,” Smart said. “… It’s so weird when you play there because you’re in and out. You’re there, and then you’re gone. So, it’s just different, but you really focus on the players, what they have to do, what we have to do to execute. It takes away from (nostalgia).”
This year’s matchup is unusual in that it not only comes in the regular season, but early in the season. This will be only the 11th visit to Bryant-Denny Stadium for Georgia, which is 2-8 in the past 10.
But the thought is there could be championship implications in this matchup, too. Between this trip to Tuscaloosa this weekend and the one they’ll make to No. 1 Texas on Oct. 19, defeats in both games could mean missing another playoff, even one that includes 12 teams.
Of course, while fan bases consider such things, neither team can afford to entertain such thoughts.
“I really look at it like this is a hell of an opportunity for our kids, our program,” said Smart, who will carry a 42-game, regular-season win streak into the contest. “National stage – and we’re on the national stage a lot the last three to four years – it’s the reason kids want to come to Georgia. They say, I wanna play in games like that. ... And we’re gonna have more of them after this. So it’s a great opportunity.”
Georgia arrives as an ever-so-slight favorite. But the Bulldogs did not look good in their most recent outing, a narrow 13-12 win on the road against Kentucky on Sept. 14. Conversely, the Crimson Tide is coming off an impressive 42-10 road win over Wisconsin the same day. Once again, the narrative is the game will feature Alabama’s high-flying offense versus the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.
However it sets up, the Bulldogs’ fervent following is expected to show up in big numbers and with more optimism than it might have upon their visit in 2020.
“Life changed on Jan. 10, 2022,” said Dantzler, referring to the game in Indianapolis. “With one mighty sword, two dragons were slayed. The loss last year hurt, but we still deserved a berth in the playoffs and a shot at three straight. Just bad luck and circumstance. It would be great to win Saturday, more than anything, But let’s call this Round One.”
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