Georgia has checked just about every box as a program over the last few years—every box, that is, but one.
The past five seasons, including this one, have seen Georgia win the SEC East four times. The Bulldogs have won the Sugar, Peach, and Orange Bowls along with the drought-breaking national title of 2021.
But through all that, Georgia still just has the 2017 year as its lone SEC championship during Kirby Smart's tenure. The losses in those games are an extra motivation for the Bulldogs as they head into this week's showdown with LSU.
"Coach Smart just tells us how hard it is to actually win an SEC Championship," senior safety Christopher Smith said. "We’ve only had one SEC championship to go along with one national championship. I think we’ve played in the SEC championship about five times since Coach Smart has been here. This would be the fifth I think. He just lets us know how hard it is to actually win."
Since that 2017 title win over Auburn, Georgia has appeared in the SEC Championship Game three times. It has lost each of those games, with a 2019 loss to LSU sandwiched between defeats to Alabama in 2018 and 2021.
That loss last year didn't keep Georgia from making the College Football Playoff. It avenged that loss by defeating the Crimson Tide to capture the national title. But that missing ring still haunts the players' trophy cases.
Even back in the spring, a championship this year stood out as a goal.
"One thing I keep thinking about it is yes, we did win a national championship. But one of our main goals that we always strive for is winning the SEC," senior offensive lineman Warren Ericson said. "We didn't accomplish that [last] year, so now it's OK, we need to go. We have unfinished business as far as doing that."
That unfinished business is very visible in the team's meeting room, which doubles as the press conference room. On the wall are numerals indicating years of division and conference titles.
The year 2021 is conspicuously absent on the conference title side of the room. These Bulldogs are embracing the opportunity to ensure 2022 doesn't suffer the same fate.
"It’s about the next step, and having an opportunity to put a number on the wall that stays there forever," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. "It’s an SEC championship. You don’t belittle those. Those are hard to come by. They’re what you do it for. There’s such a respect, especially in this part of the country, for the Southeastern Conference, that winning the Southeastern Conference championship is extremely impressive for the quality of football and the number of NFL football players that come out of our conference. I think our players take a lot of pride in that."
