Kirby Smart downplays importance of avenging SEC title game loss

Georgia had everything it could have wanted during the 2021 season. The Bulldogs went 14-1, finished the regular season undefeated, and won the program’s second national championship. With that said, it would be fair if some said that singular blemish eats them up. Georgia was an SEC Championship loss to Alabama away from running the table, winning both the conference and national crowns, and carving out an even bigger place for themselves in history.

However, Kirby Smart has no interest in living in the past. He wants his team to appreciate their greatness at the moment by only thinking ahead by a step. Their appearance in this season’s game won’t make them feel any better about last year’s loss to the Tide. He says their only focus is to lock in on the next game, which features LSU this go around in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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“It’s the next game. For us, it’s been about the next one all year,” said Smart. “The great teams worry about the next one more than the last one. That’s what we’re trying to be. A team that worries more about the next one than the last one.”

Georgia entered last season’s game in Atlanta at 12-0 before Alabama took them out by a score of 41-24. They got their payback in the CFP, but a lot of the fuel for their performance in the national title game came from how Bryce Young and the Tide had torched them just a few weeks before.

Still, Smart says this year’s trip to Atlanta won’t need that same fuel. Georgia is simply focused on themselves and, if they can keep their concentration there, they’ll feel great about their chances at keeping their undefeated stretch intact through the SEC Championship this time and as they head back to the CFP.