No. 1 Georgia braces for Bama

Should top-ranked Georgia face late-game stress against Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Saturday, it will be a first for the Bulldogs.

Georgia’s 12-0 season has been free of anxiety. The Bulldogs never faced a second-half deficit in their procession of runaway wins.

Fourth-quarter drama for Georgia’s starters involved little more than staying out of the way of second- and third-string players running onto the field.

By contrast, Alabama (11-1) has survived more late-game anxiety, including last week’s 24-22 comeback win over Auburn in four overtimes.

If the SEC championship game is decided in the fourth quarter, players for No. 4 Alabama will be able to draw on the experience of playing through other stressful games.

“I guess the benefit on that is just the experience that comes with it and being able to learn from it,” Crimson Tide wide receiver John Metchie said Monday.

If faced with their first late-game drama, Georgia players would have to rely on their practice for high-anxiety situations.

Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart insists the stress his staff creates for players in practice is sufficient preparation for real-game pressure. He said having his first-string offense and defense compete creates game-like stressful situations.

“Those are heat-of-themoment type plays,” Smart told reporters on Monday.

“I know for a lot of you guys would say it’s not the same as a game. It is. We make it like a game. You can only want to do it right so bad. If you won’t do it really right in practice, you’re creating that same situation. A lot of our guys have played in the heat of the moment many times. I look at the start of every game that way.”

Georgia’s defense created the lopsided scores which led to the stressfree second halves. The Bulldogs led the nation by allowing only 83 points, or 6.9 per game.

No other defense was even close to Georgia’s dominance. The nation’s second-best scoring defense was Clemson with 180 points allowed, or 15 per game.

Georgia’s average margin of victory in SEC games was 40-8.3.

ELSEWHERE

Huskies: Washington has hired Fresno State’s Kalen DeBoer to lead the Huskies, handing a program that has struggled offensively to a coach with a track record of productive and creative offenses.

The 47-year-old DeBoer met with Washington officials in Fresno, California, on Monday and the deal was announced a few hours later.

DeBoer has spent two season at Fresno State, going 12-6. The Bulldogs went 9-3 this season, including a victory against UCLA.

They lead the Mountain West in yards per play (6.34) and yards per game (463.6) and are second in scoring (33.6 points per game).