Kirby Smart strode down a long hallway in the bowels of Mercedes-Benz Stadium last December, his heart ripped out of his chest. Well, figuratively.
Georgia had just suffered a bitter three-point loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Fifty yards from entering a deathly silent locker room, Smart stared down the network reporter with a microphone in his hand.
As the coach approached, he signaled for the reporter covering the losing locker room to come closer.
“Are you going to ask about the playoff?” Smart asked.
“That’s my first question,” the reporter replied, the CBS camera bearing down to record Smart’s answer.
Pleading his case was all the coach had left after the loss eliminated his team from last season’s College Football Playoff. Smart still spoke to the millions watching that day but, ultimately, didn’t get through to the CFP selection committee.
Back then, 12-1 wasn’t good enough.
A couple of weeks short of a year later, there are different conclusions to reach: No. 12 Georgia may have slipped, the CFP has definitely gotten bigger — to wit, Georgia would be out of the 12-team playoff even at No. 12 as of last week — and, Kirby, we absolutely can have that conversation about the playoff again.
That much was assured with a 31-17 win over No. 7 Tennessee, which had been advertised as the last, best, true meaningful game of the season for playoff positioning.
That, of course, was nonsense. Oregon escaped Wisconsin. BYU struggled deep into the night against Kansas and lost. Lose this one, and the Dawgs would have been all but eliminated (again), even with those more accommodating 12 playoff spots beckoning. Three losses just aren’t going to cut it for anyone, really, this season.
On Saturday, Georgia played like it.
The Dawgs’ desperation was the mother of motivation. They fell behind 10-0, finished on a 31-7 run, and restored faith in themselves.
Considering what was at stake, they played their best game of the season. For the first time in five games, Carson Beck didn’t throw an interception. The offensive line kept him upright. The defense, while not of 2021 or 2022 vintage, was enough to clamp down on emerging stars Nico Iamaleava and Dylan Sampson, perhaps the SEC’s best tailback.
In the end, that heart Smart had snatched from his chest? It was beating in the bosom of a true Dawg. There was that much redemption Saturday night at Sanford Stadium.
A bunch of backups who had to play because of injuries and suspensions were the foundation for Georgia getting back to looking like … Georgia.
Tennessee — or its collective — spent $8 million (including incentives) on Iamaleava, the redshirt freshman sensation quarterback. Nico was sharp early but didn’t complete a pass longer than 17 yards.
After starting 4 of 12, Beck finished completing 21 of his next 28. His 32 rushing yards were a career high. With leading rusher Trevor Etienne out with an injury, freshman Nate Frazier ran for 68 yards. Ten players caught a pass.
Ole Miss embarrassed the Dawgs last week with five sacks and nine tackles for loss. Alabama had scorched them, at least for a half. There was no room for error Saturday.
“We don’t have anything to lose at this point,” Beck said after the game.
Actually, the season still hangs in the balance. Tuesday’s CFP rankings will reveal that Georgia is somewhere back in the playoff hunt. The Dawgs (8-2, 6-2 SEC) are also one of four SEC teams currently with two conference losses.
Either Texas or Texas A&M is also guaranteed to suffer at least a second conference loss when they meet Thanksgiving week.
Is the SEC the new Big 12 or the old Pac-12, where there are/were few dominant teams? Example: Georgia now has the tiebreaker over Tennessee in the SEC standings but not Alabama or Ole Miss.
But this was a night for celebration at Sanford Stadium. It had become difficult to remember that the Dawgs are still gunning for a third national championship in four years and in fact have the third-shortest odds as of Sunday morning.
Before the first commercial, it was 7-0 Vols. Boo Carter‘s 26-yard punt return set up a field goal to make it 10-0. Georgia receivers dropped three more passes Saturday to stay in the Power Four lead in that department.
No, they’re not perfect, and time will tell if they are indeed back. But Georgia did become the first team this season to score at least 20 on Tennessee. That was assured when Beck ran 10 yards for what turned out to be the winning score 9 ½ minutes into the second half.
Georgia’s defense constricted more as the game went on. Certainly not like in the Nolan Smith or Jalon Carter days, but enough to make a statement that the old Georgia hasn’t gone completely away.
Tennessee held the ball for 12 plays and the first 6:13 of the fourth quarter. It also didn’t score, barely crossing the 50 and ultimately having to punt.
Georgia then took more than six minutes to drive 92 yards for the insurance touchdown. It was the Dawgs’ longest drive of the season.
Georgia eventually beat Tennessee like it always does — this time for the eighth straight time. It was closer than the previous seven, which Georgia won by an average of four touchdowns.
But the result still had that who’s-your-daddy feel to it.
Georgia completed its conference schedule and has only UMass and pesky Georgia Tech to go. Somebody please tell the selection committee: This Georgia is worth considering again. For now.
“I don’t know what they look for anymore,” Smart said on the field after the game. “I would welcome anybody from that committee to come down and play in this league.”