Georgia ‘excited’ for SEC Championship, but continue to take it as any other game
Once Georgia walks into Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Friday afternoon for its on-field practice session, it’ll have a chance to reflect. There’s not a more-direct way to put it — the SEC Championship game has more significance than any other the Bulldogs have played this season.
Those lights shine brighter — mainly because of the enormous halo board — and more eyes are drawn to the action. This serves as a de-facto play-in game for the College Football Playoff, and each of the Bulldogs know it. If Georgia loses to top-ranked (according to the latest AP poll) LSU, its hopes are squashed and a return to the Sugar Bowl or a trip to the Orange Bowl would be the likely destinations.
None of them want a repeat of last season, however, so this game has higher stakes. Even ask head coach Kirby Smart, who compared this environment to that of the Super Bowl.
“I think our kids have earned the right to be here,” Smart said on Sunday’s SEC coaches’ teleconference, a 30-minute Q&A session followed by LSU head coach Ed Orgeron. “I think it’s one of the best sporting events there is. The atmosphere created in Atlanta is incredible. Our kids have cherished those memories. That’s the way it should be in the SEC.”
But once the opening kickoff is sent away on Saturday at 4 p.m. (CBS), Georgia sees it as football. The same football it has played since Aug. 31 at Vanderbilt. That same physical game that has been displayed in front of hundreds of thousands for 12 weeks, and fine-tuned in a private setting since March.
Georgia has been in this spot three-consecutive times — the first team in its division to do so since Steve Spurrier-led Florida teams from 1992-96. So, sure, the Bulldogs know how to handle the moment. Some things, externally, are also different like Smart handling two extra media sessions and deflecting each question to guard every plan in his possession leading up to the game. Georgia blocks outside noise, however, and it says nothing matters away from things done on the first floor of Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall.
“It’s the next game — regardless of who you’re playing, where it’s at or what you’re playing for. Those guys have played in big games,” Smart said. “In the SEC, it’s that way every week. You’re going to play teams in the Top 25 three or four times. We’ve all been faced with that.”
These two SEC foes meet for the second-consecutive year — a rarity for teams who aren’t cross-divisional rivals. Georgia is in search of avenging its 2018 loss in Baton Rouge, La., in which it got outmatched and stomped inside the hostile environment of Tiger Stadium.
“We’re excited for every game,” Georgia running back Brian Herrien said. “It’s football, we put our all into this. We played LSU last year, so we’ve got a chip on our shoulder.”
The only thing standing in the Bulldogs’ way is, well, LSU — a lot better and a lot more dynamic than it was about 13 months ago.
Orgeron revamped his offense with hiring passing-game coordinator Joe Brady from the New Orleans Saints and promoting Steve Ensminger to offensive coordinator. Hello, spread scheme that becomes very difficult to stop. The Tigers, led by senior quarterback Joe Burrow, sling the pigskin everywhere and post gaudy offensive numbers. LSU heads to Atlanta after scoring 50 on Texas A&M (Georgia scored 19 on the Aggies), and with the second-best scoring offense nationally.
Naturally, the first question headed Smart’s way Sunday was evaluating the Tigers’ offensive attack. There’s a uniqueness to the Tigers’ offensive scheme that is impossible to compare.
“Where do you want me to start,” Smart said. “I’ve only got 30 minutes. It’s all over.”
All of it starts and ends with Burrow, who has suddenly evolved into potentially becoming the top NFL draft pick in 2020. He’s the catalyst and the nation’s premier signal caller. He’s the reason why LSU is 12-0 after being projected as a middle-of-the-pack SEC West team with eight or nine wins. His record-breaking passing numbers tell that tale, and he allows the offense to click with running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (who Smart called “powerful and explosive”) and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
Burrow crisply reads defenses, has a strong pocket presence and knows how to make the appropriate decisions. Georgia hasn’t seen much film yet on the Tigers, but it does know that Burrow can destroy near-perfect defensive execution.
“It’s a combination that makes him one of the best quarterbacks I’ve seen,” Smart said. “... He’s everything you want in a quarterback.”
LSU’s offense creates a matchup that many might be drawn to, because it’s against the Bulldogs’ formidable defense. One that has recorded three shutouts through 12 games, allowed one rushing touchdown all season and is ranked second-best nationally in scoring defense. Orgeron said it bluntly: This is the best defense LSU has faced this season. He likened it to Auburn’s defense — which held LSU to 23 points on Oct. 26.
Orgeron sees Georgia’s biggest area of improvement on the defensive front, and he singled out senior Tyler Clark whose influence lay in other details that may not appear in the box score.
“They’re very well coached,” Orgeron said. “They’re agile. They move. They can take on blocks, slant, pass rush well. They do it all.”
Sunday’s hour-long conversation served as the beginning of week-long hype. Everyone will chatter. A lot of the same questions will be asked. Players and coaches will likely get annoyed with it — even if it’s not visible.
All eyes are fixated on this matchup between top-four teams, and both of the programs recognize the importance of hosting a trophy.
But there’s a point where it’s all silenced. None of it will matter, and talking will be done on the turf.
“It’ll be a heck of a challenge,” Georgia linebacker Monty Rice said.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 5:00 AM.