ATHENS, Ga. - The Georgia Bulldogs are suddenly the Georgia Underdogs, with top-ranked Alabama a 13-point favorite in Saturday afternoon's Southeastern Conference football championship game.
It's the first time this season No. 4 Georgia has not been the favorite with oddsmakers, and a double-digit underdog is a very unfamiliar role.
"That's cool with me, and I'll let the people think what they want," Bulldogs senior defensive end Jonathan Ledbetter said of the steep odds. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but they're not out there playing the football that we are. They're not out there sweating for their brothers, so they don't really understand.
"We're going to give it everything we've got, and I'm confident in my guys. Somebody is going to throw the first punch, and it will be a dog fight from there. We're ready for it."
Georgia has not been an underdog since its previous meeting with Alabama, when the Crimson Tide were 3.5-point favorites entering January's 26-23 overtime win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the national championship game of the 2017 season.
The Bulldogs had been at least touchdown favorites in every game this season, with the closest lines 7-point spreads against LSU and Florida. Georgia lost 36-16 at LSU on Oct. 13 for its lone defeat of an 11-1 regular season, but the Bulldogs rebounded after an open date to whip Florida 36-17.
Georgia is a 13-point underdog for the first time since the 2011 SEC title game against undefeated LSU, when the Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-0 advantage before a Tyrann Mathieu punt return for a touchdown opened the floodgates in a 42-10 win by the Tigers.
The last time Georgia was more than a 13-point underdog was its 2009 game against Florida during Tim Tebow's senior season. The Gators were 14.5-point favorites and rolled to a 41-17 victory.
"We don't need to be an underdog to be motivated," Bulldogs sophomore quarterback Jake Fromm said. "We're playing for the guys in the locker room and playing for the coaches and this university. We're going to go out and play a great football game, and it's going to be a fun one."
Said junior running back Elijah Holyfield: "I'm going to approach this game just like every other game I approach."
This is actually the closest line all season for the Tide, who are the first team in NCAA history to complete a 12-0 regular season with 12 wins by 20 or more points. Alabama's tightest spread before this week was 14.5 points against LSU, a game the Tide won 29-0.
Alabama is bidding to join the 1972 Southern California Trojans and the 1995 Nebraska Cornhuskers as modern era national champions to win every game by multiple scores, and third-year Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart could only laugh this week when asked whether this season's Alabama team is among the all-time greats.
"They're pretty good," Smart said, "I mean they're really good. They're explosive. I don't see a weakness. Everybody talks about their kicking game, but they're explosive, talented and doing a really good job and playing at a really high level.
"When they get on top of you, they know how to finish."
That Alabama is a 13-point favorite over a program it survived in overtime not even 11 months ago reflects just how impressive the Tide have been, but the Bulldogs did not shy away from college football's premier machine then, and they insist they won't now.
"I don't really see any intimidation factor," Ledbetter said. "They're another football team. They're the head honcho and have been leading the pack for a while, and they're playing a good brand of football, but Georgia is going to do that, too.
"I don't see why you would be afraid of another man, and I don't think anybody on our team is afraid of another man."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.