Linebacker Nolan Smith is one of those rare players who is not afraid to let folks outside his circle of family and friends know exactly how he feels.
This was evident during Wednesday’s Zoom interview with reporters to preview Monday’s National Championship against Alabama (8 p.m., ESPN).
The Savannah native was asked how he felt following the Bulldogs’ loss to Alabama in last month’s SEC Championship. Following a momentary pause, Smith took a break and answered straight from his heart.
“You want to know the truth? I cried,” Smith said. “I'm 20 now. I've been playing football since I was 4 -- 16 years, haven't won anything. I haven't won a championship. I won a couple of bowl games but anything big, any championship, I’ve never won yet.”
That’s a fact that that gnaws at the junior linebacker every day. It’s also his great motivator.
“That’s one thing that keeps me going. That's just something in the back of my head that I know that keeps me driving and I just want to win,” Smith said. “I could care less how it gets done, how pretty it looks; I just want to win and play ball.”
Monday night at Lucas Bank Stadium, the Bulldogs will have an opportunity to do exactly that.
The situation is one Georgia fans can recite in their sleep. It’s a fact rival fans are quick to point out. That is, it’s been 41 years since the Bulldogs have won a national championship.
“To be the first since the drought, I tell people, you'll be a Georgia legend no matter if you're from inside the state of Georgia or outside of Georgia, you're going to be Georgia legend,” Smith said. “We came in to be legendary, be special, leave our mark.”
Running back James Cook, who hails from Miami, Florida, knows exactly how Smith feels.
“No doubt,” Cook said. “We just wanted to do something and be special that nobody can take away from us. And (when) we come back, they can bring us up and not the 1980 team. That is just special, just winning the national championship here at Georgia.”
Wide receiver Kearis Jackson knows exactly what a national championship would mean to Georgia’s long-suffering fan base.
Growing up in Fort Valley, Jackson said he’s witnessed the love fans have for the Bulldogs and what it would mean to finally end the drought.
“All they want is a Georgia championship,” Jackson said. “So, with me knowing that, with my team knowing as well, not only are we fighting for each other but we're fighting for the ones in our community as well because they're Georgia fans just like we are.
In order for them to get a championship, we've got to go out there, do our job so we can get one as well. It's going to be a major win for us to go win one.”
Defensive coordinator Dan Lanning will be flying back to Eugene, Oregon to take over as the Ducks head coach as soon as Monday night’s game is complete.
Before he does, however, Lanning said his sole focus is doing whatever he can to help the players he recruited and he loves to make their dream come true.
He does not see it as pressure.
“None of that is hanging over our head. At the end of the day, we want to go perform to the best of our ability. We want to execute at a really high level,” Lanning said. “But ultimately it's not about them. It's about us. We want to go play our best game. If we play our best game, we feel confident that we can win that game.”
What a mark it would leave.
“I want to bring my kid back and tell him this is what I did. I want to leave my mark. I don't just want to be another University of Georgia player,” Smith said. “I think it would mean everything. There's a lot of kids born and raised in the state of Georgia, and this is one you'll never forget. I always talk about leaving a legacy to my kids, but this would be the ultimate.”
Smith will not get any argument there.
“For me, I’m kind of like a lot of people go to the program just because of their father and everything. I want that to be my son's choice,” Smith said. “But ultimately this is my goal and my dream, to point at my son, son, this is what we have done here. We're born and raised here, so why wouldn't we want to do that?”
