Uh-GA: "It's not a rivalry if you never win."
 |
| Nick Saban (center white jacket facing away) and Kirby Smart met at mid-field following Georgia's loss. Kirby (red visor) is moving on to congratulate Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe. |
The first play was missed field goal by Georgia in the second quarter. Had that 55-yard attempt been successful, the game would have been tied at the end, obviously. It needs to be remember that an illegal procedure penalty was called on Georgia before the kick attempt, which made the field goal longer than it would have been.
Secondly, the Dawgs were punted deep into their own territory and fumbled the ball away, their only turnover of the night (but you can't turn the ball over at this level of play), to Alabama who had the ball inside the Georgia 15. Our defense rallied here and held the Bama offense for three downs. But, our fumble gave the Crimson Tide three free points with the resulting FG. It was the difference in the score of the game.
Add those two moments together and you have the ballgame. If we make the FG we are likely going to overtime (which we obviously might have lost anyway). But, if we make that field goal and we do not give Alabama the freebie FG then Georgia wins 27 - 24(!). If...
In the real world, Saban is 8 - 0 against Kirby in SEC Championship play. Pathetic but you have to swallow that, it's not going away soon. Georgia enjoyed the pleasure of beating Alabama to win the 2021 National Championship and would go on to win another in 2022. A towering sports achievement. They won 29 straight games, which broke Bama's former record for most consecutive wins in the SEC.
But none of that means much this morning. The morning after, licking our wounds from a ridiculous season where we were the #1 team in the country on week one and now weeks of being No.1 does not count. We probably won't make the college football play-offs. There's a long line of great teams that deserve to go to the play-offs and Alabama is one of them - as SEC Champs.
We'll see if that means anything because for Bama to make the play-offs they would have to pass Texas and Florida State, both big winners. Texas beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa by double-digits earlier in the season which is what sent Alabama down so far in the rankings. Would the Playoff Selection Committee leapfrog the Tide over an undefeated ACC Champion Florida State? Surely, the Committee won't leap Bama over Texas after Texas beat them. If Bama and Texas both make it it will require a demotion of the currently No. 4 ranked Seminoles, who won their Championship game.
For the record, Michigan will now almost certainly move up to #1 and Washington (by beating #5 Oregon) will be #2. After that it's a mess. I'm glad I don't have to figure out the final two spots. I can just lick my wounds and wonder what non-playoff bowl game they will make it into. Oregon lost, maybe we'll play Oregon.
How 'bout them Dawgs? They won the National Championship while I was a senior in college at UGA. They have won it again back-to-back the last two years, which was a remarkable period of football for me as a lifelong fan. I cherish it as special but I'm hungry for more.
Come on Dawgs. You have to play better next year. Being #1 all season doesn't count if you lose your championship game (this year, there's too many good teams). They'll fall to #5, #6, or #7 depending on who ends up making it in. Our program has to build again from there which is certainly not a bad starting point.
My friend's comment really resonates with me this morning. But the fact is this is a rivalry. It has been so for many years. Saying Georgia "never wins" is only speaking recently. Since I have been alive Georgia is 9 - 20 against Alabama. Since 2008 (when Saban started coaching the Tide), Georgia's record is 1 - 9. Horrible, but we have won a few overall. There's just been a whole lot of losing in recent memory. Georgia cuts into Alabama's winning percentage a little bit when you look at the rivalry as a whole. In 73 total meetings, Alabama has 43 wins against Georgia's 26 with four ties.
So it's a rivalry. It just doesn't feel that way today because I can only remember a few of those 9 wins that happened in my lifetime while a bunch of the 20 defeats are sorely recalled. Enough that I cry out again, I'm so tired of losing to Alabama!
Note: As an aside, there was no better college football player in the country in 2023 than Georgia's Brock Bowers at tight end. But, because he missed two games due to injury and he is not a quarterback and probably because he is a junior, he is not in the running for the Heisman Trophy. Tragic. Bowers will likely turn pro next season.
Note: The television broadcast of this game marked the last time CBS would cover the SEC - which is moving to ESPN next year. I have watched well over a hundred college games with CBS announcers. They are the best at what they do and I'm sure there is a future for them elsewhere in college football.
Later Note: #6 Georgia crushed #5 Florida State 63 - 3 in the Orange Bowl for the widest margin of victory in all of college football bowl history. Georgia topped their own record established in January's National Championship Game blow-out of TCU. FSU was handicapped by their starting quarterback being injured and unable to go and several of their key players opting out of the bowl game. Georgia got great participation, though the best football player in America, Brock Bowers, did not play for the Dawgs. I remember when every player dreamed of playing an Orange Bowl caliber game. Now, with "The Transfer Portal" or going to turn pro, a non-Championship bowl game just doesn't mean that much. Gone are those days. If the bowl isn't about the championship then it is not a necessary start for some of the best players. Sad.
Comments