Georgia is about to face the toughest opponent it’s seen all year – Alabama. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have been the formidable force in college football for as long as I can remember. Winning games and accumulating accolades, including six national championships, have solidified their reputation. However, over the past couple of years, Georgia has been stepping up to the plate and challenging that notion.

With back-to-back national championships and a strong push for a third, Georgia has taken Alabama’s spot as the team to beat in college football. As Georgia faces Alabama in the SEC Championship, it feels as if Alabama has the opportunity to reclaim the title. Given their season, especially with a home loss against Texas, it’s hard to tell whether this Alabama team is reminiscent of the Tide of old. Still, Kirby Smart and company will not be taking any chances.

The history between these two teams is rich. Rivalry week just passed, but a special kind of beef has grown between the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide. Consider Kirby’s ties to Saban, Georgia’s 2018 National Championship loss against Alabama, the regular-season loss to Alabama in 2020, and the 2021 SEC Championship Game loss. It all got bottled up and poured out at the end of 2021 when Georgia defeated Alabama in the 2021 National Championship, ending a 41 championship drought after losing to the Tide a little over a month earlier.

Now, the two teams come together again, and this time around, it’ll be more interesting, given that both teams had less than favorable experiences during rivalry week.

Alabama had their miraculous comeback victory in the last minutes of the Iron Bowl, down 20-24 with Jalen Milroe throwing a prayer to Isiah Bond on a 31-yard fourth and goal that wound up being the game-winning touchdown.

For Georgia, the Dawgs didn’t experience anything nearly as earth-shattering but were consistently tested through their game against a formidable Georgia Tech team. Tech versus Georgia’s final score was the closest of any of Georgia’s regular-season games, surpassing the Dawgs’ victory over Missouri by a point.

Although I would like to brush that off and say that a win is a win, onto the next, with the way the players sounded after the game, it’s tough. Smael Mondon and Javon Bullard seemed a little irritated after their win against Tech, fitting given the way it went and the fact that Alabama is their upcoming opponent.

Tech had its way running the ball against Georgia, and Mondon credited the fact that it was hard to account for a running quarterback on top of all the other things they ran. The ‘extra hat’ gave the defense trouble, and that’s precisely what they’re going to see when they play Jalen Milroe and Alabama.

There’s plenty to fix on both sides of the ball heading into what should be an intense football game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, but don’t let Georgia’s performance against the Engineers mean much. This team is built on resilience, so we’ll see how that plays out during practice and Saturday’s 2023 SEC Championship Game.