Does Georgia have an advantage with playing against Tua Tagovailoa last season?

Georgia has one thing that other teams preparing for Alabama this season don’t: a half of meaningful experience against quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Last season, the now-Heisman contending quarterback flashed his potential against the likes of Mercer, Tennessee and Vanderbilt as a freshman — not much of a basis for opponent’s game plans. But Georgia has 30 minutes of tape against Tagovailoa when a national title was at stake, against a previous version of its own defense.

“He came in late in the game and made some dynamic plays,” Georgia defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said. “We didn’t game plan last year for him, but they always have playmakers on their roster and we have to be aware of that.”

There was the 2nd-and-26 play that every Georgia fan remembers due to it claiming the title for the Crimson Tide; it can be to Georgia’s benefit this week.

No, not because it’ll take more time to study the missed coverage by former safety Dominick Sanders on the Cover 2.

Not because it can be used as motivation.

It’s because Georgia saw from its own perspective what Tagovailoa can do (14-for-24, 166 yards and three touchdowns). Barnett said he’s studied the tape and taken bits-and-pieces from it as learning lessons, and Ledbetter concurred.

But at the same time, the dynamics are also different.

“He’s improved tremendously,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “I mean he was really good in that half, but you have to remember, they had two really young linemen in the game. They had a lot of receivers that were playing at that point that were really young that have grown up.

“I don’t know that playing against him last year helps any this year. I think it doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

Nearly a full year later, Tagovailoa has evolved from a promising backup to one of the premier talents in college football. He leads the country in quarterback rating at 212.5 (Georgia’s Jake Fromm is third at 179.4) and has thrown for 36 touchdowns.

He’s headed into Saturday’s SEC championship game off of a career-high performance of six touchdowns in a 52-21 win over Auburn.

Tagovailoa also has weapons to throw to, and plenty of them. Alabama has one of the deepest receiver corps in the country, and are led by Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle.

“They’re talented, man,” Smart said. “They get vertical. They stick their feet in the ground and they have a good guy throwing it to them.”

Jeudy, a freshman, leads the unit with 1,079 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns while the trio has combined for 27 touchdowns. Hale Hentges, Irv Smith, Devonta Smith (yes, that guy who caught the infamous title-clinching touchdown) and Josh Jacobs are tough offensive forces to handle, too.

Jeudy will likely spend plenty of time matched up with Georgia’s heralded senior cornerback Deandre Baker, who said his team has “the best DB corps in the nation,” and other assignments are uncertain. This is a different breed of tests for Georgia — a multi-faceted attack rather than one wideout to key on.

“I’m like a kid in a candy shop,” Tagovailoa said to the Tuscaloosa News in a Monday press meeting. “It’s awesome. I can go to the right, I can get a Snickers bar if I wanted to. I can go to the left, I get some Skittles. It’s really fun for me as a quarterback to be behind some first-round draft picks.”

Tagovailoa will force the Bulldogs to be extensive in its approach to stop him (freshman walk-on Mason Wood emulated Tagovailoa on scout team Monday), and will be the best quarterback statistically Georgia has faced this season.

But Georgia believes it can beat Alabama, and the first step is stopping the nationally-acclaimed sophomore.

“It’s about who can execute,” Barnett said. “If we get pressure on him, I think we’ll be OK.”