Georgia makes history (again) but turns the page to Alabama
Kirby Smart and Georgia made history Saturday night. After becoming the first time in SEC history to go 8-0 in conference play three consecutive seasons, the Bulldogs won their 29th straight game – now alone atop the all-time SEC list for longest winning streaks – but as was the case last week when they tied the record, there’s no time to celebrate. It’s on to the next one, the biggest one for the Bulldogs so far this season: an SEC Championship date with Alabama.
“It says we’ve got a tough one next week,” Smart said, in typical fashion for the head coach, when asked what it says about the program to win 29 straight. “I mean, humility is a week away. That’s what we say around our place. It’s a great honor. I mean, it’s something we’ll look back on. It’s not one person. You know, if I’m thinking right, that’s three different teams, right? There’s a lot of kids that aren’t in that locker room that were a part of that. That’s not the focal point for us. The focal point for us is to get better, you know, and we’ve got to continue to get better.”
“Our kids have a lot of pride, and they want to get better,” he continued. “You know, the offense felt like they left points out there. The defense feels like they didn’t play the quarterback run game as well as they should, so the good thing about that locker room is a lot of guys know there’s work to be done.”
Smart’s message certainly was one that received by his players. Defensive back Javon Bullard spent the majority of his time with reporters talking about adjustments that need to be made to slow Alabama down. Carson Beck and Kendall Milton, while excited about the career-night for the senior running back, both understood that some of the mistakes made offensively can’t be repeated next week in an important game for their chances to make a return trip to the College Football Playoffs.
“We’re in crunch time. This is championship week, playoff time,” Bullard said.
“It feels good to come in here and get a win and finish off the regular season undefeated. Super proud of the guys. It obviously didn’t look exactly the way we wanted it to, but to come out of here with a win is big,” Beck added.
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Sitting at 12-0 for a third straight season and at No. 1 in all the rankings, Georgia is in prime position to make a return to the Playoffs. A win on Saturday over Alabama would absolutely have them in – and likely the top seed. With a loss, would they still have a chance though?
“I really wouldn’t even want to answer that. I’m so worried about what we’re doing and getting better. I’m going to leave that for you guys,” Smart said when he was asked the question. “I’m not worrying about lobbying for anything. I’m worried about playing for an SEC Championship which is really hard, really hard to get. There’s one of the greatest venues in all of sports is the SEC Championship. I’ve been very fortunate to coach in it a lot of times from DC position and head coach position. It’s probably the best atmosphere I’ve ever been around. We’ll be concerning ourselves with that.”
Smart said he knew the end result of the Alabama-Auburn Iron Bowl battle, one that took a 4th and Goal conversion from the 31-yard line for the Crimson Tide to come out on top 27-24. Asked for specifics about any sort of carryover between the prep the Bulldogs did for Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Smart said he had not seen enough of Alabama to truly judge – only knowing that they’ve got a great team.
Kickoff time for Saturday’s top-10 showdown between the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on CBS. Georgia, according to the early released lines, is considered to be about a 4.5-point favorite.
