Georgia football not brushing off record vs Alabama ahead of SEC showdown
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CJ Allen has won an SEC championship, an Orange Bowl and took part in the College Football Playoff with a Georgia football program that has gone 35-5 during his three seasons.
One thing he hasn’t been able to check off his list is beating Alabama.
He’s 0-3 against the Crimson Tide.
“It’s something I definitely kind of think about,” the junior linebacker said as the Bulldogs prepare to play Alabama in the SEC Championship game on Saturday, Dec. 6, in Atlanta. “It’s crazy you ask that because I actually talked to my Mom last night on the phone about a team I haven’t beaten in the SEC Championship.”
No. 3 Georgia is once again a national title contender but first things first: No. 10 Alabama stands in the way of back-to-back SEC titles.
Yes, there is that history against Alabama.
Georgia has lost 10 of its last 11 against the Crimson Tide going back to 2008.
Coach Kirby Smart is 1-7 against the Crimson Tide during his time at Georgia, including 0-4 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Smart’s teams bring consistency year after year.
At least 11 wins every season since 2017, excluding the COVID season in 2020.
Remember the second guessing in some corners that went on when quarterback Carson Beck bounced to South Beach to play for Miami after last season? The Hurricanes are viewed as unlikely to get in the playoff.
Gunner Stockton and Georgia are locks.
Yet there’s not a player on Georgia’s roster who has played in a win over Alabama.
“Everybody knows the history of Georgia-Alabama,” said Stockton, the first-year starting quarterback, said. “I mean, it’s there.”
Demons were thought to be exorcised with Kelee Ringo’s pick six in the 33-18 win in Indianapolis.
Smart and Vince Dooley embraced on the field as Georgia’s 2021 team won the national title, the program’s first since 1980.
Then came the 2023 SEC championship game, a 27-24 Tide win that kept Georgia from having a chance at a three-peat national title.
The Ryan Williams’ showcase game — 177 yards on 6 catches — in Tuscaloosa in 2024, a 41-34 Bama win.
And the 24-21 Alabama win in Athens back on Sept. 27 that snapped Georgia’s 33-game home winning streak.
Smart turns to sports performance psychologist Drew Brannon for big games like these.
So the coach was asked, given the history against Alabama, could Brannon help the team clear a mental hurdle or at least deal with outside noise about getting over the hump?
“He’s helped every Alabama game since 2020,” Smart said. “He does a great job.”
Georgia bounced back from the Alabama loss to win its next eight games, the longest winning streak in the SEC, including dealing Ole Miss its only loss, and beating ranked opponents Texas and Georgia Tech.
“This isn’t the same team that we played a couple months ago, right?,” Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson said. “They’ve found a new identity. They’ve got it rolling. We got to go in and understand that our mindset doesn’t need to change, that this is going to be a heavyweight fight. Last year, last time we played ’em, none of that means anything, right? They’re going to have a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.”
Junior linebacker Raylen Wilson said the Bulldogs are “pretty aware,” how players on this team have fared against Alabama.
“We don’t really bear on the past when it comes to new games,” he said. “We just focus on the next game. ‘Bama is who we got next.”
Said Allen, who started as a true freshman in the 2023 SEC Championship game vs. Alabama: “Guys just want to win this game, period, no matter who we’re playing.”
Stockton’s approach is that what happens after 4 p.m. Saturday when the teams play again is what matters now.
“I mean, they can’t transfer a win, a loss, to this game,” Stockton said. “This is its own game by itself. That’s the way we’re approaching it. Just approaching it like any other game, preparing the right way during the week, setting yourself up for success when Saturday comes.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Why Georgia football isn’t shying away from its history against Alabama
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