The SEC Championship game started in 1992 in Birmingham, Alabama. Georgia never made it to the SEC Championship game during the first 10 years it existed. From 2002 to the present, Georgia has appeared (counting Saturday) in 11 SEC Championship games while the rest of the SEC East had 11 appearances combined.
Georgia also has 14 SEC Championships in all (before and during the SEC Championship era). Alabama has the most as the Crimson Tide has dominated the conference categories.
This will be Kirby Smart’s sixth appearance as head coach (2-3). He never appeared as a Georgia player, but he did as the Bulldogs’ running back coach in 2005 (1-0). He also went to the conference title five times as an Alabama assistant (4-1) from 2007 to 2015.
Smart will also try to become the third head coach in SEC history to win three SEC Championship games.
While Saturday’s game is at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Georgia’s previous game was also in Atlanta at Bobby Dodd Stadium just a few miles away. The Bulldogs defeated the Yellow Jackets 31-23. It was the Dawgs sixth straight win over their Peach State rival and their 12th straight on Tech’s turf. The average score of those 12 games is 32.6 to 14.8.
The 23 points by Tech were the most that the Bulldogs have allowed this season. They did not give up a score on their opening possession (they did in previous five games), but they did trail 7-0. The Dawgs have trailed in eight of 12 games this season including seven of eight conference games (they did not against Kentucky).
Georgia did outscore Georgia Tech 24-3 in quarters two and three. The Bulldogs dominating the middle quarters is nothing new.
Carson Beck completed 13-of-20 passes for 175 yards with a touchdown and interception against Georgia Tech. The 13 completions were a season-low and the 175 was as well, plus it was his first game this season under 250. Despite the low numbers, Beck has rapidly climbed the Georgia list for a single-season in both categories.
Beck’s numbers might have been due to Brock Bowers, Ladd McConkey and Rara Thomas not playing. Those three receivers have combined for 370 career receptions.
Dominic Lovett led Georgia last week with five receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown. Lovett needs one more reception to reach 50 this season. Bowers already has 51 this season. Only one previous time in team history has Georgia had a pair of players with 50 or more receptions. In 2008, Mohamed Massaquoi had 58 and A.J. Green had 56 to lead the Dawgs.
Bowers and Lovett are just two of the seven Bulldogs that have 20 or more receptions this season. The seven different players is tied for the most in the nation with Baylor and Texas Tech.
Kendall Milton has been the guy in terms of Bulldog rushing as of late. He has had at least one rushing touchdown in the last seven games. Only two Georgia running backs have had longer streaks in the 2000s. Nick Chubb had ten in 2014 to 2015 and Todd Gurley had eight in 2012 to 2013.
Milton’s even been hotter in his last three games as you can see:
Daijun Edwards is still compiling great numbers. He needs 18 more yards to become the 19th Bulldog to reach 2,000 for his career.
Georgia is one of four schools that have two players with at least ten touchdown rushes each. Liberty, Oregon and West Virginia hare the others. That isn;t very common for Georgia since 1940 but it is happening more lately.
Dillon Bell has 254 yards receiving and 157 yards rushing this season. He along with Kentucky’s Ray Davis are the only SEC players with 250 or yards receiving and 150 or more yards rushing this season.
Malaki Starks was named one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe award as the nation’s best collegiate defensive back (Deandre Baker in 2018 was Georgia’s only winner). Starks is one of the main reasons that Georgia is on top of the SEC list in terms of fewest touchdown passes allowed.
One of the things that Georgia must do this week is contain Jalen Milroe. If you take away sacks, Georgia has allowed quarterbacks to average 6.8 yards per rush attempt. The good news for the Bulldogs is that Milroe also gets sacked a lot. The Crimson Tide have allowed 39 sacks this season (3rd most in the SEC). The 39 is also the second most allowed by Alabama in the Nick Saban era (41 in 2021).
Finally, like Beck and Bowers, Peyton Woodring is also climbing the single season at Georgia. He is tied for tenth in field goals with 20. He is tied with Blair Walsh (twice) and Rodrigo Blankenship. Here are some other charts he is climbing...
The 119 points puts Woodring in second place in the nation in total points behind the Texas kicker Bert Auburn's 129.
