If you’ve listened to any video interview or read any story throughout the course of the year, you can probably recite Georgia’s “play to the standard” mantra without any trouble.
Cliché? Perhaps. But what is also quite clear, for the top-ranked Bulldogs, is that it's not just a saying, but a belief.
Just ask nose guard Jordan Davis.
“Every week is a stage to show how good we are. The standard doesn’t change,” Davis said Monday. “Week to week, it doesn’t matter if we’re playing Charleston Southern, Alabama, Clemson, any of these guys. The standard is what we play to. We don’t play to anybody’s level, we don’t play to any opponent. It’s about how we play.”
As stated, that includes Alabama (11-1), Georgia’s opponent in the SEC Championship (4 p.m., CBS).
While there are certainly many people wondering if the Bulldogs (12-0) can finally break their six-game slide against the Crimson Tide, Bulldogs like linebacker Nakobe Dean have their eyes focused on what’s ahead.
“I wasn’t playing in 2018, but I guess if you want to, look at the past,” said Dean, when asked about Alabama’s recent run of success.
“I guess there might be some historians who want to look in the past, but it’s this Georgia team and the now that I’m focused on,” he continued. “I’m about this team now. Yeah, we’re 12-0, but that’s in the past. That doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how we finish.”
Davis feels the same way.
“I think everybody is excited. It is what it is. This is the SEC Championship; it’s the pride and joy of this program. It’s what we came back for as seniors,” Davis said. “This is what we worked for. Obviously, if we get a shot at the conference championship, we’re going to take it.”
Quarterback Stetson Bennett realizes a lot of eyes will be on him. But his only concern is about the team.
When asked what a victory Saturday would personally mean, the senior simply shrugged.
“It would mean we won an SEC championship for the University of Georgia,” Bennett said. “It would be pretty cool.”
Indeed.
Beating Alabama, he says, would not make it any more special.
"They are a really good team coached by one of the greatest to ever do it. They are strong in all facets of the game,” Bennett said. “We don't really focus on the revenge aspect, getting back at them. If it was anybody else in the championship game, we'd be preparing the same way we are."
Dean agrees.
“I didn’t matter to me at all,” said the junior when asked if a title date with the Tide always felt inevitable. “Any team we would have gone out there against, I’m going to be ready for and ready to do my best for my team. It didn't matter to me at all.”
Players also disputed the idea that somehow Georgia’s dominance, sans the opener against Clemson, could somehow play in favor of Alabama, which has played considerably more close games.
Would the Bulldogs be ready for a tight game?
“Of course,” Dean said. “We say all the time that our practice is harder than the game. That would be an understatement. We'll be ready. This type of game, this kind of environment—you should be ready to play a four-quarter game.”
Davis summed it up this way.
“They’re (Alabama) legendary, but we’re just excited we’re able to play this week. There are 12 other teams in the conference who wish they were playing this week,” he said. “It’s an amazing feeling. I’m glad to play, I’m ready to play; everybody is locked in and focused.”
