Five things to know as No. 1 Georgia seeks to break Alabama’s Atlanta curse

The No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (12-0) carry the longest win streak in SEC history – 29 games – into Saturday’s title game against No. 8 Alabama (11-1). But the one unchecked box for Smart during his eight seasons as Georgia’s coach is beating the Crimson Tide and his protégé, Nick Saban, for the league championship.

In fact, the last game the Bulldogs lost before embarking on their current streak was Alabama’s 41-24 win on Dec. 4, 2021. The Tide also beat Georgia 35-28 in the Benz to win the 2018 championship and, of course, defeated the Dogs in 2017 College Football Playoff Championship game 26-23 in overtime on Jan. 8, 2018.

Including coach Mark Richt’s loss to Alabama in the 2012 SEC Championship game, the Bulldogs are 0-for-Atlanta against the Tide. The last time Georgia beat Bama in Atlanta was in 1942, when the Bulldogs and Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich scored 21 fourth-quarter points to win 21-10 at Georgia Tech’s Grant Field.

Of course, beating Alabama anywhere has been a difficult proposition for UGA. The Bulldogs had lost seven in a row to the Tide – including two losses in Athens and one Tuscaloosa – before finally beating them 33-18 in the 2021 CFP Championship game in Indianapolis on Jan. 10, 2022.

Smart only glared when asked if that victory might help the Bulldogs’ psyche this time around.

“It meant that the University of Georgia got a national championship. That’s the significance of that,” Smart said.

Here are five more things to know heading into Saturday’s 4 p.m. game (CBS):

Saban loves Atlanta

Alabama coach Nick Saban loves Atlanta. The Tide’s legendary 72-year-old coach is 17-1 in games played here and 7-0 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Overall, Alabama is 17-1 under Saban in Georgia’s capital city. That includes 16 consecutive wins.

The Tide is 7-0 in Chick-fil-A Kickoff games, 8-1 in SEC Championship games, 1-0 in the Peach Bowl and 1-0 in the College Football Playoff Championship game during that span. After losing to Florida in 2008, Alabama has won eight consecutive SEC title games and has claimed eight wins over top-10 teams and seven other top-5 programs in that span.

Saturday will be the fifth time Saban will be meeting Georgia in the league championship game. In addition to the three previous matchups while with Alabama, Saban’s LSU Tigers downed the Bulldogs 34-13 in the 2003 SEC Championship game.

“We always look forward to playing in Atlanta,” Saban said. “It’s been a city that’s been very welcoming to us. The atmosphere and environment there has always been fantastic in whatever venue that we play.”

Importance of the run game

One of the fundamental keys to winning football games – especially championship games – is being able to run the football and stop the run. On offense, at least, that bodes well for the Bulldogs.

Georgia has been running with authority of late. In the past three games, the Bulldogs are averaging 239.3 yards a game. That includes a 300-yard game against Ole Miss and a 262-yard effort against Georgia Tech.

A healthy and confident Milton has played a big role in that. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior averaged 116.3 yards rushing and scored five touchdowns during that stretch. His per-carry rate in those games – 11.25 yards.

The Crimson Tide heads into the game with a respectable defense that ranks 33rd nationally against the run (128.4 ypg). But they’ve proved vulnerable, at times. Auburn hit Bama with 243 yards last week, which represented the fifth time this season allowed 177 or more. Georgia averages 178.6 yards a game, which ranks 40th in FBS.

“It’s going to be a trench war, absolutely,” senior center Sedrick Van Pran said. “We know it’s going to be a hard-fought, physical game. You’ll win some battles; you’ll lose some battles. The biggest thing is to continue fighting.”

Protecting Carson Beck

One reason Georgia has been able to run the football more effectively the past few weeks has been the return of offensive tackle Amarius Mims. The 6-foot-7, 340-pound junior right tackle missed six games over seven weeks after undergoing TightRope surgery on his left ankle. Mims returned in a backup role against Ole Miss on Nov. 11, then was the starter in the Bulldogs’ past two games, against Tennessee and Georgia Tech.

Perhaps more important is Mims’ superior ability in pass protection and that will be severely tested by the Tide. That’s mainly because of the presence of defensive end Dallas Turner.

A 6-4, 252-pound junior, who wears No. 15, Turner leads Alabama with nine sacks and 13 quarterback hurries this season. He also leads with 13.5 tackles for loss. He has piled up 20.5 sacks during his career, three of which have come against the Bulldogs. Turner had two sacks against Georgia in the 2021 national championship game and recorded another a month earlier when Alabama met the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship game.

But it won’t be only Turner who Georgia has to deal with. Senior linebacker Chris Braswell (6-3, 255) has recorded eight sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.

In the end, it will be a group effort for Georgia’s line to keep Beck clean. That actually bodes well for the Bulldogs. Their 10 sacks allowed this season – or 0.83 per game – is the third-fewest in FBS in 2023.

Familiar faces

Georgia will be facing two Alabama players they know quite intimately, both of whom are expected to play prominent roles in Saturday’s game.

Wide receiver Jermaine Burton and linebacker Trezmen Marshall own national championship rings they earned with the Bulldogs. In Marshall’s case, he has two.

Marshall, a senior, transferred to Alabama 11 days after Georgia won its second consecutive CFP championship. After having never started in four seasons with the Bulldogs, the Homerville native has started of nine of the 11 he’s played with Bama. Missing one game with a rib injury, he ranks seventh on the team with 50 tackles and has 2.5 sacks.

Burton starred for the Bulldogs for two seasons after signing with UGA as a 5-star prospect out of high school in Calabasas, California. An Atlanta native, the 6-foot, 200-pound flanker transferred to Alabama a week after helping lead Georgia to a win over the Crimson Tide in the 2021 CFP Championship game. The impetus, he said at the time, was to improve his skills as a wideout and enhance his NFL draft stock.

This season Burton leads Bama receivers with 33 catches for 749 yards and seven TDs. He had 40 for 677 and seven scores in 2022. Burton had 53 for 901 and eight TDs in two seasons with the Bulldogs, but had lost his starting position to Ladd McConkey as a sophomore.

Saturday will be the first time Burton faces his former team on the field.

“I asked him, ‘You ain’t never played against them, have you?’ He was like, ‘Nah,’” Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore said this week. “I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’ So, ‘Maine’ is probably going to be a little hyped and little emotional this game – but in the right way, not emotional in a bad way.”

Injury update

As always in a game this late in the season, injuries will be a factor. Reports coming out of Tuscaloosa late in the week said that Alabama is going to be without running back Jase McClellan. The Tide’s leading rusher at 66.92 yards per game, aggravated a chronic foot injury in the Auburn game and has been undergoing treatment since. That leaves Roydell Williams (94-497) as the team’s leading rusher.

Georgia is expecting tight end Brock Bowers (ankle) and right guard Tate Ratledge (knee) to be able to return Saturday. The two-time All-American Bowers sat out the Tech game Saturday because of soreness from his surgically repaired ankle. Ratledge also sat out after suffering a non-structural knee injury in the first half of the Nov. 18 game at Tennessee.

Flanker Ladd McConkey (ankle), split end Rara Thomas (foot) and cornerback Julian Humphrey (shoulder) are listed as questionable for Saturday.