Guerry Clegg: Must win for Georgia in terms of program stature
In terms of simple math, the Alabama-Georgia game Saturday is more critical to the Crimson Tide than it is to the Bulldogs.
Georgia could lose the game but still win the SEC and make the College Football Playoff. If the Bulldogs are 12-1 and SEC champs and their only loss was to Alabama, they're at least on the short list. Unless they just get embarrassed Saturday, the Bulldogs are likely to be favored in the rest of their games. Wins in all of them would guarantee them the East Division title, because that would mean they would have beaten Florida.
Alabama simply cannot afford another loss. The Tide might still win the SEC West with two losses. But it's doubtful that any team with two losses will make the playoff.
But in terms of program stature, this game is even bigger for Georgia than it is for Alabama. Even if the Tide loses, they will be back in the national picture next year. It's not an elimination game for Georgia, but it's close to a must-win for the Bulldogs -- and for Coach Mark Richt.
It all goes back to 2008, the year of infamous Blackout. The Dogs went into that game ranked No. 3 in the country. Most people remember they had Matthew Stafford, Knowshon Moreno, Mohammed Massaquoi and A.J. Green on offense. It's overlooked that several others on that team also went on to play in the NFL -- and some are still playing. Kris Durham, Clint Boling, Ben Jones, Cordy Glenn, Geno Atkins, Dannell Ellerbe, Bacarri Rambo, Brandon Boykin and others. Justin Houston, now possibly the best pass-rusher in football, was just a skinny freshman.
Most fans, at the encouragement of Richt, wore black. The team came out in black jerseys. But Alabama won 41-30 in a game that wasn't that close.
That game was the turning point for both programs. It propelled Alabama to a 12-2 finish and set the Tide up for three national championships over the next four seasons. Georgia suffered through the only real dark period of Richt's tenure, 14-13 over the next two seasons, leading to an overhaul of the program.
Even with those two bad seasons, Georgia won 38 regular season SEC games -- one more the LSU, two more than Florida -- from 2008 through 2014. Only one team won more regular season SEC games in that stretch -- Alabama with 49 wins.
Excluding Texas A&M -- which the Bulldogs haven't played since the Aggies joined the SEC -- Alabama is the only team Georgia has not beaten in that stretch. (The Dogs did beat the Aggies in the 2009 Independence Bowl)
Since the program hit rock bottom in 2010, Richt has done a nice job rebuilding Georgia into a national contender. Two trips back to the SEC championship game, including the 32-28 loss to Alabama in 2012, when time expired with Georgia on the Bama 4-yard-line.
The Bulldogs have had some nice wins -- beating LSU at home two years ago, wearing down Clem
son in the home opener last season. But it's always something. They lost Todd Gurley to a sprained ankle in that LSU game. The next week, they lost Keith Marshall to a severe knee injury against Tennessee. Last year it was the Gurley autograph scandal, followed by his season-ending knee injury, that wrecked last season.
There's a reason that Georgia has slipped in the polls despite being undefeated. In a word: credibility.
They haven't had a true "signature win" since when? You have to go back at least to 2006, when Georgia beat a good Auburn team 37-15 at Jordan-Hare.
Beginning with the 2011 season opener, a 35-21 loss to Boise State, Georgia is 6-10 against teams that ended up winning 10 games.
For Alabama and Saban, this is just another big game.
This is not just another big game for Georgia and for Richt.
It is, to a great extent, one that will go a long way to shape the perception of both.
We do know one thing for certain. Georgia will come out wearing red.
-- Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com
This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Guerry Clegg: Must win for Georgia in terms of program stature ."