Smart, Georgia trying to stop skid against Saban, ’Bama

The Georgia Bulldogs aren’t the only team having a tough time beating fellow Southeastern Conference powerhouse Alabama.

They’re just the only one that gets another shot in the season’s biggest game.

The No. 3 Bulldogs have the kind of talent-rich roster that appears built to give the top-ranked Crimson Tide a run for their money. They’ll head into the national championship game Monday night in Indianapolis trying to finally get over that elephant-sized hump while Alabama is seeking its seventh national title since the 2009 season.

Beating ‘Bama for some five-star recruits has proven easier than besting coach Nick Saban & Co. on the field. Alabama has won the last seven meetings, including one in a previous national title matchup and three with SEC championships on the line.

Georgia coach Kirby Smart, a former Nick Saban disciple at Alabama, is 0-4 against his old boss. Smart points out they share those

struggles “with a lot of teams.”

He’s right, but the Bulldogs are the ones who have a chance to change that recent history a little over a month after Alabama toppled them from the No. 1 ranking with a 41-24 win in the SEC championship game.

It matched the regularseason score from 2020 in Tuscaloosa.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for them,” Saban said. “And I think it’s important for our players to know what they need to do to be able to continue to have success in the next game, regardless of what happened in the last game.”

Or the last seven games. The Bulldogs also have pushed Alabama to the limit, most notably in their last for-all-the-nationalmarbles meeting on Jan. 8, 2018.

But the streak stands among the SEC’s two most dominant, talented programs.

⏩On Dec. 4, Bryce Young passed for an SEC championship-game record 421 passing yards, locking down the Heisman Trophy and the No. 1 College Football Playoff seed for his team.

⏩Oct. 18, 2020. Alabama scored three touchdowns in a 10-minute span starting late in the third quarter for the first 41-24 win.

⏩ Dec. 1, 2018. Jalen Hurts got to be the hero this time. The former starter replaced an injured Tua Tagovailoa in the SEC championship game, throwing for one TD and running for another with just over a minute to play in a 35-28 win.

⏩Jan. 7, 2018. Also in Atlanta, Tagovailoa and fellow freshman DeVonta Smith connected on a 41-yard touchdown in overtime for a 26-23 victory. Tagovailoa had replaced a struggling Hurts in the second half.