For a 37th consecutive year, Georgia is having to regroup from its first loss in the regular season.
Not since legendary running back Herschel Walker punished the opposition has Georgia navigated a regular season unscathed, and it’s not a common feat among Southeastern Conference football programs. Alabama has produced five undefeated regular seasons since the Bulldogs last accomplished it in 1982, while Auburn has three such years, Florida two and Tennessee one.
There are many more examples of SEC programs that had banner seasons despite a misstep, and that is Georgia’s objective moving forward after last Saturday’s 20-17 loss to visiting South Carolina in double overtime.
“This is not the first time we’ve had to deal with this,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said this week in a news conference. “Each year, we’ve had to deal with it at different times from different opponents, and our players acknowledge that. They understand. In the last 20 years or something, I don’t think a team that’s represented the SEC East has been undefeated. Maybe Florida. I think one year they did.
“Outside of that, it just doesn’t happen very often. What’s more important is that our team gets ready for Kentucky and gets ready to play rather than talking about the rest of the year, because we have to worry about Kentucky.”