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Nobody is giving Georgia much of a chance this weekend in the SEC Championship Game vs LSU.
But then again, nobody was giving Georgia much of a chance to even be in this situation after losing to South Carolina in October.
Hey, here we are. For the third year in a row, mind you.
The Dawgs have faced some awfully tough challenges over the last three seasons. Remember, this is the same quarterback, same running back, much of the same offensive line and defensive players that came one play away from winning the national championship two years ago. These Dawgs know what it takes to win. They know what the big stage feels like. To them, this is just another big game.
Kirby Smart finds himself making another trip back to Atlanta for the third time in four years as head coach of the Bulldogs. He’s gone up against some explosive offenses during his tenure at Georgia, too, but none better than this LSU group.
“It’s as explosive of a team as I’ve ever seen on tape,” Smart said. “This will be as great a challenge as we’ve had since I’ve been here, as far as playing an opponent.
They have an outstanding all-around team. It’s a tremendous opportunity to measure where you are when you get an opportunity to play a team like this that’s firing on all cylinders.”
For LSU, the Tigers’ offense ranks No. 1 or No. 2 in just about every category. So when Smart says this as explosive of a team as he’s ever seen, that’s not just him hyping up his opponent as he tends to do. He’s being real with us.
But luckily for Georgia, the Dawgs possess the nation’s top defense. And just like LSU, Georgia is No. 1 or No. 2 in just about every defensive category.
And they did not get to that point off of star power. They got there by playing as a whole and everybody doing their jobs.
“We don’t have the natural star power on our defense,” Smart said. “A lot of the defenses I’ve coached had three or four first-rounders.
“This group plays hard and plays together.”
Smart’s teams have gone up against some of the best in the last decade of college football. That will be more of the same on Saturday, but if Georgia can control the clock and force Joe Burrow to stay off the field, I like our chances.
“This obviously will be the ultimate test,” Smart said. “(LSU has) the best offensive unit we’ve played, all the way around, and it’s really not even close.”