Seasoned Bulldogs eagerly awaiting 'huge opportunity'

Winning a Southeastern Conference football championship has been such a breeze for the Georgia Bulldogs through the years.

When Herschel Walker was in their backfield.

Georgia never lost an SEC game in Walker's three seasons, 1980-82, but the Bulldogs have won just two league titles in the years since, making Saturday's showdown against Auburn in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium a momentous occasion for a program that last wore the crown in 2005. The Bulldogs have reached the SEC title game for a third time since 2005, having lost badly to LSU in 2011 and barely to Alabama in 2012.

"It's a wonderful opportunity," Bulldogs senior tailback Sony Michel said this week in a news conference. "It's another chance to play some football. I don't have to be home watching this game. I can actually play in it."

Since Georgia's last league title, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and LSU have each won at least two SEC championships and one national championship. The Bulldogs finished No. 2 nationally behind LSU in 2007 and came within a final play of knocking off Alabama five years ago, but the closest the current players had come to an SEC title-game appearance until now was in 2014.

Entering Thanksgiving weekend three years ago, Georgia needed Missouri to lose at home against Arkansas to share the Eastern Division title and employ a head-to-head tiebreaker, with the Bulldogs having routed the Tigers 34-0 weeks earlier. Arkansas jumped out to a 14-3 advantage and led 14-6 at halftime, but the Tigers scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 21-14.

"It came down to the last regular-season game to figure out if we were going or not," Georgia senior tight end Jeb Blazevich said. "I remember thinking, 'We were this close. Obviously, we'll go next year or the year after.'

"You realize now what a blessing this is and what a unique team this is and how we can't take this for granted. It's a huge opportunity."

The uniqueness of Georgia's 2017 team started forming last December, when Michel and fellow running back Nick Chubb along with outside linebackers Davin Bellamy and Lorenzo Carter chose to return for their final seasons. That gave the Bulldogs veterans across the board this year, with seniors such as receiver Javon Wims, left tackle Isaiah Wynn, nose tackle John Atkins and defensive backs Aaron Davis, Malkom Parrish and Dominick Sanders joining the returning quartet to give second-year coach Kirby Smart a slew of leaders.

"These seniors have developed their leadership qualities throughout their course of being here," Smart said. "I'm a firm believer that Sony and Nick are the leaders they are because of the hard times they've been through. They have been out with significant injuries during their careers, and that has helped them be a stronger leader.

"It's the same way with Lorenzo and Davin. They've become leaders because Jordan Jenkins was a good leader and Leonard Floyd was a good leader. We've had people come in and meet with them and talk to them about the ways we want to lead. We try to teach that and coach that so that they can be the right person in the clutch."

Georgia was clutch defensively in a 20-19 win at Notre Dame on Sept. 9, the only game the 11-1 Bulldogs have played this season that was decided by fewer than two touchdowns. The lone loss, obviously, was the 40-17 thumping Georgia endured Nov. 11 against the same Auburn squad the Bulldogs will face Saturday.

Smart's Bulldogs managed just 230 yards in Jordan-Hare Stadium while allowing 488, but they regrouped to obliterate Kentucky and Georgia Tech the past two weeks by the combined score of 80-20.

"They've improved, and we're seeing them be resilient and respond to adversity," Smart said, "but they haven't played Auburn again. They haven't played a team of that caliber yet. This is a great opportunity."

Georgia's season will be viewed as a success regardless of Saturday's outcome, but that level of success would skyrocket significantly with a win over the Tigers. A victory would not only result in an SEC title but a reservation in college football's four-team playoff and the national attention that comes with it.

Given that Georgia's past three seasons have ended in the Belk, TaxSlayer and Liberty bowls, there is no arguing the magnitude of this one.

"The last time we've been here was the year before I got here," said Davis, a fifth-year senior. "We are used to having this week off, but it is definitely exciting. We have been working hard the past 11 months to get to this point, and all the guys are super eager to get out there to put on our best performance."

Said Carter: "When the seniors came back, we really wanted the chance to play for a championship, and now everything's on the table. We know what we have to do."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.