The proper mindset can be critical when it gets to this point in the season.

It certainly propelled Georgia last year. Fresh off a disappointing loss in the SEC Championship Game, the Bulldogs carried a chip on their shoulders into the College Football Playoff and eventually to a national title.

Things are a bit different this year. Georgia is undefeated and the newly crowned conference champion. But the Bulldogs are planning to carry the same edge into the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl against Ohio State later this month.

"This year, the narrative is we haven’t lost a game so they have an edge over us," defensive lineman Zion Logue said. "But nobody has an edge over us when it comes to that because we go into every game thinking that’s our last game and we’ve got to put our best foot forward."

Kirby Smart isn't shying away from the differences. He addressed it with his team the same day Georgia earned the No. 1 overall seed in this year's playoff.

A large focus since then has been time management. That has only become more focal in recent days as final exams have concluded.

Linebacker Smael Mondon said he learned from watching the veterans of last year's squad handle the long layoff. He's getting treatment, watching more film, and meeting with coaches with some of his extra time.

Mondon also feels similar hunger to last year's team.

"For us, it’s not necessarily getting back because a lot of guys that played on that national championship team last year aren’t playing now," Mondon said. "There’s a lot of new faces out there. We’re just as hungry as the last group of guys were to get back there. We’re not complacent necessarily because it wasn’t us that did it last year."

Ohio State is in a similar position to Georgia last year. The Buckeyes fell to archival Michigan in the season finale, putting their title hopes in serious jeopardy before ultimately earning the last spot in the CFP.

The Bulldogs know they'll be getting the best shot from Ohio State. Even though this year is different, the team knows it has to prepare with the same intensity.

"We treat every day like a game," Logue said. "We try to make practice harder than the games, so by the time December 31 gets here we’ve seen everything, we’ve done everything to get ready for that moment."