Georgia (11-1) and Alabama (10-2) will square off Saturday afternoon in the SEC Championship game.
The Bulldogs clinched their trip to the conference title game on Friday when Texas upset Texas A&M.
“Awesome opportunity for our guys. I told them last night, ‘You earned the opportunity to play in this game. This was not given; this was earned,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart declared. “This was not picked by a committee; it was on the field.
“Two teams that have already played once. Both played daunting SEC schedules and get a chance to battle it out, see who the SEC champion is, and there’s a lot at stake, as always,” the coach added. “Playing a really good football team. [Alabama head] coach [Kalen] DeBoer’s done a great job with them.”
Georgia’s only loss this season came Sept. 27 to Alabama, 24-21 at Sanford Stadium. The Bulldogs responded by winning the last eight games of the season, heading into Saturday’s rematch with the Crimson Tide.
Smart said he’s noticed his team has improved since the last time it faced Alabama.
“We’ve improved in some areas. We’ve gone full circle in other areas. We’ve been dealing with different injuries now than we probably were then,” he pointed out.
“But the growth of Gunner [Stockton] would be one thing. He’s played in more games. He’s played in a lot of tough environments,” Smart continued. “And defensively, we’ve got guys who are a little more experienced. That’s probably the biggest difference: the guys who were young when we played them last time are a little more grown-up. They’ve played more games.”
Fortunately, outside of his performance against Georgia Tech last Friday, Stockton has been at the top of his game. He completed 11 of 21 passes for just 70 yards with a touchdown and an interception, along with 42 rushing yards on 15 attempts against the Yellow Jackets.
Still, Stockton made the plays when he needed to.
“He did some good things, made some good decisions,” Smart said of Stockton’s performance on Saturday. “A couple of times he had some pressure in his face, and we probably missed some wide-open guys. He’s got to navigate the pocket a little better or just get rid of it, try to take a sack. I thought he forced the one ball for the interception, and that’s not like him. He probably played better than I actually thought after the game.”
Despite the loss in September, Stockton was effective then against Alabama, completing 13 of 20 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 22 yards.
The Bulldogs lost the game because of things their quarterback couldn’t control, including Georgia’s poor defensive performance against third downs. The Bulldogs’ defense allowed the Crimson Tide to convert 13 of 19 third-down attempts in the regular-season contest.
Alabama controlled the time of possession, and Georgia’s defense seemed like it could never get off the field.
The Bulldogs have improved on defense since that game against Alabama. The unit handled Georgia Tech, one of the nation’s top offenses entering last Friday’s game, by executing at a high level.
Georgia held the Yellow Jackets to 250 yards of total offense and allowed them to convert only 4 of 11 third-down attempts.
“We’re playing a little more together in terms of execution. We have more experienced players,” Smart said. “The biggest thing to me is we’ve got young guys who have had to grow up while playing together. They’re playing with a little more confidence.
“We call it the cumulative effect. We actually do a lot defensively throughout the year. The cumulative reps of hard things get easier,” he added. “There’s enough overlap between those offenses and carryover of our defenses that allows repetitions to mount up and help us.”
The Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide will square off Saturday in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 4 p.m. EST on ABC.