ATHENS, Ga. - Recent Alabama-Georgia showdowns have proven to be big-boy games for the running backs.
Elijah Holyfield is ready to be a big boy.
Holyfield has rushed 133 times for 896 yards (6.7 per carry) and seven touchdowns this season for the No. 4 Bulldogs (11-1) entering Saturday's Southeastern Conference championship game against the top-ranked Crimson Tide (12-0). In Georgia's 26-23 overtime loss to Alabama in January's title contest of the College Football Playoff, the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of College Park played only on special teams.
"I'm very excited," Holyfield said. "It's the SEC championship. It's one of the biggest games of the year."
The son of former heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield was fourth in line last year on a running-back depth chart headed by Nick Chubb, Sony Michel and D'Andre Swift. Each of the top three received carries against the Crimson Tide, with Michel having the most success with 14 rushes for 98 yards.
Chubb, the second-leading rusher in SEC history behind Herschel Walker, was held to 25 yards on 18 carries against a Tide defense that had eight members drafted by NFL teams several weeks later.
During the 2015 regular-season meeting between Alabama and Georgia in Sanford Stadium, Chubb rushed for 146 yards on 20 carries, but most of that was an 83-yard touchdown run in the third quarter after the Tide had built a 38-3 lead. Derrick Henry rushed for 148 yards against the Bulldogs in Alabama's 38-10 rain-soaked victory.
Alabama's tandem of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon overwhelmed Georgia in the 2012 SEC title game, combining on 45 carries for 334 yards and three touchdowns in the Tide's 32-28 triumph. Todd Gurley rushed 23 times for 122 yards and two scores for Georgia, but backup Keith Marshall had two carries for 3 yards.
Georgia has averaged 259.8 rushing yards a game this season, with the Tide allowing just 114.
"We know they have really good players," Holyfield said, "and there is not one person who you can really key on a lot of times, because all of them are so good. They are physical and they get off blocks. They are very physical, just like us, so these two defenses are kind of cut from the same cloth.
"I just want to keep the chains moving and help my team any way I can. Whatever they need me to do, I'm ready to do it."
Holyfield and Swift, who has 139 carries for 962 yards (6.9) and nine touchdowns this year, have the Bulldogs among just six Football Bowl Subdivision programs with two running backs who have gained at least 850 yards to this point.
Swift is the hotter of the two, having four 100-yard games in Georgia's past five contests, but it has been the emergence of Holyfield that has resulted in comparisons to the Chubb-Michel duo who set an NCAA career standard with 8,407 combined rushing yards.
"I've been very pleased with Elijah," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "His leadership has been tremendous, as has his work ethic day in and day out. His toughness and his attitude are tremendous. I think both of those backs would tell you they benefit from a physical offensive line and a group of receivers that are a threat to catch the ball, and those things help open boxes.
"Elijah has been tremendous, though, and he has a good knack for getting the ball in the end zone. He's a slasher, and he's not afraid of contact."
Georgia's ground game, which also includes James Cook, Brian Herrien and backup quarterback Justin Fields, has averaged 1.4 yards more per carry than last season. That is not a stat many would have expected after Chubb and Michel were selected among the top 35 NFL draft picks.
"All of us have done a good job, and I feel like we've gotten better," Holyfield said, "but this is the time when you can really make yourself a name."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.