Some may call this a trap game...When a
successful team might overlook a lesser opponent as they look ahead to a
bigger game.
Its hard to think of the SEC Championship Game as a trap
game…especially after LSU had won five in a row including a big 32-31
overtime win over Alabama. They looked like a team that might give UGA all
they could handle.
Then last week happened. The Tigers went into Teas A&M and lost
handily 38-23 to an Aggies team that has struggled all season to find
themselves.
Then #5 ranked LSU lost all hopes of making the playoffs dropping
all the way down to #11.
But, head coach Brian Kelly has still done an amazing job
turning around a team that was just 5-6 in 2021. And, knocking off the #1
team in the country and winning the SEC Championship would be the crowning
touch on that turnaround.
Georgia has tended to play up or down to the level of their
opponents this season. They blew out then #3 Oregon and then #1 Tennessee
but barely hung on needing a fourth quarter comeback to win at Mizzou. They
turned in another lackluster performance to a Kentucky team that had just
lost to Vanderbilt then were trailing with eight minutes to go in the first
half last week against a five win Georgia Tech team that had fired their
head coach halfway through the season.
So, one might wonder which Bulldog team will show up. The Tigers
are too good a team to get too far behind on…of concern since UGA hasn’t
gotten off to a good start since the win over Tennessee on November 5.
But, this is a big game and Kirby Smart knows how to
motivate his troops pointing out how difficult it is to win an SEC
Championship and this this group, even win a national championship under its
belt, has yet to accomplish that.
Of extra interest to Bulldog Nation is the fact
that their expected opponent in the College Football Playoff Semifinal Game
back here on New Year's Eve at MBS was #4 ranked USC. But, the Trojans laid
an egg Friday night in the Pac 10 Championship Game and lost for the second
time to Utah. That knocks them out of the playoffs and likely slides Ohio
State in. Some wonder if #6 Alabama might jump over the Buckeyes.
Kickoff is at 4:00 p.m. in Mercedes-Benz Stadium…the second time
the Dawgs have played in this building this season as they opened here
against Oregon.