Georgia versus Alabama: News and Notes for Sunday

For Georgia’s offense to have the success it wants Saturday in the SEC Championship against Alabama (4 p.m., CBS), keeping tabs on Crimson Tide linebacker Dallas Turner will be one of the keys.

At 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds, Turner may just be the most destructive linebacker in all of college football.

“The best you can do is not put yourself in bad down-and-distance situations, to try to stay ahead of the sticks. You got to stay on schedule and stay ahead of the sticks,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “He's got speed, talent, ability. He's improved so much throughout his career. He's gotten bigger to me, and much more impactful on the run game. He’s an every-down player, and still elite on the pass-rush side of things.”

His stats show just how good Turner is.

Of his 46 tackles, eight have gone for sacks. He’s also forced two fumbles.

“You can't really mimic that. You do the best you can to simulate it, and you work technique and you put a game plan together,” Smart said. “At the end of the day, you've got to have skilled people that can block those kinds of guys. They're hard to block.”

Anytime Georgia plays Alabama, there are always the inevitable questions about the two coaches' years together at LSU and Alabama.

Sunday’s teleconference to preview Saturday’s game was no exception.

Smart was asked about the fact that he’s never beaten Saban for the SEC Championship and if that would serve as extra motivation.

“It's not on extra motivating factor for me. I'm not looking for checkmarks or checking boxes or certain tick marks to try to get on your belt. That's not what I got in this for,” Smart said. “For me, it's for giving our kids a chance to do something special and represent this university. That's what we want to go do; we want to go play our best.”

Other Saban-related questions for Smart included:

…What’s it like to go against someone you know so well?

Smart: “It's one of those deals that's happening more often as you go across a coordinator like last night or somebody that used to be on your staff. It happens with more and more regularity as you get older and you've coached with more people.

"But I can't say enough about the tremendous respect I have for him, the job he's done, how long he's done it.”

…What kind of job has Saban done?

Smart: “They certainly have talented players. They've got talented players all over the place on the offense and defensive line. Their lines of scrimmage are big and physical, which always is an identity of an Alabama team. You know that. But this one has been very unique. They play really hard. They play well together. They respond to each other. They've been in some tight ball games, made some big-time comebacks in games.”

…What has Smart learned from Saban?

“Just attention to detail. The ability to be locked down on the task at hand. Never before has our sport or this level of college football required such multi-tasking. One minute you're working on special teams, the next minute you're chasing guys, dealing with the portal, dealing with transfers, NIL,” Smart said. “His ability to compartmentalize and work at the task at hand was always incredible to me. It's something that I try to do. I don't know that I do it as well as he does when it comes to being able to focus on the task at hand, and not get distracted by the little things.”

Saturday’s SEC Championship will be the last that pits the winner of the West against the winner of the East.

Next year, with Oklahoma and Texas joining the league, the conference won't have divisions, with the top two teams playing for the championship.

With the playoffs also expanding to 12 teams, Smart was asked if the game should even be played at all.

“Certainly, if you look over the history of the SEC, it might not impact the 12. It might impact who has to play when, and who gets byes. You're playing for a bye, for a home game. You're playing to get in, to get knocked out,” Smart said. “But none of all of that matters to me as much as an SEC Championship does. I think that's lost on everybody. Nobody cares. All they want to know is who's the champion of the NCAA and the national champion, not who is the conference champion.”

While some fans may not see the importance of the title game continuing, Smart does not feel that way at all.

“It hasn't lessened in value to the coaching world or the men in our room, the players. We had a team meeting not too long ago. I said we've won as many SEC championships as we have national championships around here,” Smart said. “They're hard to win. You better appreciate 'em. They're really hard to do. So I have an appreciation for winning a conference championship. It's hard.”

…How have Carson Beck and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe handled the pressure this year?

“Well, I mean, we're just starting on those guys. Watched two games. That's hard to answer. I haven't watched a lot of the earlier stuff. We didn't get to cross over with them a whole lot in the regular season, so I hadn't seen them, especially offensively, as much,” Smart said. “When you talk about Carson and his growth, I think he gained more confidence through playing time and being in some tough contests going on the road, playing in hostile places. He's grown up and gotten better. I’m excited to see where he can go.”

…Smart was asked about the improvement he’s seen from Alabama wide receiver and former Bulldog Jermaine Burton.

“Well, I mean, I just don't know if I've seen enough tape to fairly answer that question. We catch some of their games when we're done playing. I haven't watched enough tape,” Smart said. “I know he was a really good player when he was here. To be two years removed from that, the impact he had in that national championship game against Alabama, to have two years under his belt and grow as a player, we know how talented he is. Certainly, he has a lot of ability.”

…How does Smart feel about playing former players like Burton and linebacker Trezman Marshall. “Yeah, I think the first thing you look for is, is it a better opportunity for them. In each one of those cases on a case-by-case basis, they have to determine that, not us,” Smart said. “The guys that helped us win games, whether it was last year, two years ago, three years ago, they're somewhere else, I want them to do well. I don't wish negative upon anybody. I certainly want Georgia to do well.”