As quarterback Stetson Bennett prepares for the biggest start of his college career, he does so with the same unassuming demeanor with which he’s taken to the field for all nine of his previous starts this year.

So, what's he telling himself prior to Saturday’s SEC Championship against Alabama?

Obviously, whatever offensive success Georgia enjoys will depend largely on how well Bennett performs. He understands the expectations.

“Well, you want to say you prepare every week, whether you're the starter or not, but that's not really the case. I don't know, I'd say that,” Bennett said. “Just the fact that I'm the starting quarterback—with that comes a different level of responsibility, different level of expectations. And just being able to handle all those, knowing what's important and what's not, not cluttering your mind, and just being prepared for a battle.”

At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Bennett understands he’s not the poster boy for what many picture their quarterback to be.

He’s also not deaf to the fact many have wondered why he’s the starting quarterback and not JT Daniels.

"I mean, I don't ever really worry about what people say about me,” Bennett said. “My job is to go out there, complete passes, get the offense in the best play possible and execute. I'll let all the storytelling and narrative write itself."

By now, Bennett’s story is a familiar one. He's a former two-star walk-on, who transferred to junior college, then returned to Georgia on scholarship, and eventually replaced JT Daniels following the former five-star's oblique and Grade 1 Lat strain.

His teammates know the story as they have lived it beside him.

“It makes me proud to be his teammate. That’s the true picture of resilience right there. He was here, went to JUCO, and came back,” nose tackle Jordan Davis said. “Seeing him come from a walk-on to leading us to the conference championship, it seems like one of those 30 to 30s. He just goes out there and works, and that’s one thing you just admire.

"Stetson is always going to be Stetson. I’m super proud of him. I’m super honored to be his teammate.”

Kirby Smart is equally proud to be his coach.

When asked to summarize Bennett’s journey, Smart harkened back to Bennett’s first year when the Bulldogs were preparing to play Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl.

“You go back and look at the newspaper articles and the media outlets after the Rose Bowl—that's when the legend really started,” Smart said. “He started as a quarterback that played the role of Baker Mayfield for 12, 13 practices, and that's kind of where his legend began with us, because we knew this guy was a really good athlete, smart with the ball, did a lot of good things.”

Against an opponent the quality of Alabama, Bennett said there are a number of lessons he’s learned over the course of the season he believes will give him his best chance to be successful.

One of the biggest, is not to try to do too much.

“For me it’s just the understanding, more understanding of football and what a game takes to win. Knowing that individual plays are hard to win a game, but they're very easily lost. That's where most games, especially at the college level, are won and lost—it's by losing them, not by individual plays winning them,” Bennett said. “So not pressing and trusting everybody else on our team, defense, and offense, and knowing I don't have to go out there and win the game on an individual play. It's okay to throw the ball away or run and get two or three yards. And just not to press.”

Another is not to subscribe to the notion that just because Georgia blew out Arkansas, Florida, and Auburn—three teams the Crimson Tide struggled to defeat—the Bulldogs are that much better.

“Football is such a crazy sport, and there are so many different aspects that go into an individual game that determine a score or anything like that. It really has no basis for how a future game's going to go,” Bennett said. “Everybody in this league has great players, especially in college ball. Different teams come out different weeks, not just us or Alabama, but the teams we've played. So, you don't put any relevance on those scores or anything like that.”

In other words, Georgia’s eye is firmly on the prize that is the SEC Championship.

“Whatever they are, whether they've outscored them by more or we have, I don't know. But, no, we have too much respect for who Alabama is this year as a team to allow ourselves to do that,” Bennett said. “We're going to keep approaching this game like we have been every other game, and that's with the utmost respect for the opponent and to be able to execute our jobs to the best of our ability."