Georgia can still make the College Football Playoff … but rocky roads are ahead

As gut-punch losses go, Georgia’s final-minutes loss to Alabama last week — a lead the Dawgs surrendered after coming back from down 28-0 — is as tough as they come. But Georgia has a way of rebounding quite nicely after losses to Alabama.

Three years ago, Alabama upset Georgia in the SEC championship; the still-playoff-bound Dawgs responded by thumping Michigan in the Orange Bowl and then serving up the sweetest revenge possible — a win over the Tide in the national championship. Last year, Alabama again beat Georgia in the SEC championship, effectively snaking Georgia’s spot in the CFP final four. Georgia took out its aggressions on poor Florida State, hammering the Noles 63-3 in the Orange Bowl — a beating from which FSU is yet to recover.

Now we have yet another Alabama win over Georgia — the sixth in seven meetings in the Kirby Smart administration — and yet another opportunity for the Dawgs to step up. Fortunately for Georgia, this loss isn’t as devastating as, say, the 2018 national championship. (That was the infamous second-and-26 game, when a freshman named Tua Tagovailoa found a freshman named DeVonta Smith for an overtime win against the Dawgs. Georgia fans, don’t look at the time on the clock when another Alabama freshman, Ryan Williams, caught the go-ahead touchdown Saturday night.)

The 12-team College Football Playoff means Georgia still has plenty of breathing room; Georgia could probably lose two games and still get in. And the Dawgs might need every bit of that airspace; after years of complaints that Georgia feasted on cupcake schedules, this year Georgia is running headlong into concrete. Still ahead: No. 2 Texas, No. 12 Ole Miss and No. 4 Tennessee, and only the Vols are coming to Athens.

But before all that, there are some on-paper “easier” showdowns. This weekend, Georgia begins its path to revenge with a get-right game against — of all teams — Auburn, the SEC’s perpetual chaos-bringer. There’s a deep psychopathic streak at the heart of the Auburn Family, a desire not just to win games but ruin seasons. And a loss to Auburn would most definitely ruin Georgia’s still-viable season.

The numbers favor Georgia, and not just on the line, which opened at 24 points in the Dawgs’ direction. Auburn hasn’t won in Athens since 2005, and hasn’t beaten Georgia at all since 2017. The last time the Tigers traveled to Sanford Stadium, Georgia won by 32 points.

And yet … this is the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. These two teams have played, and hated, each other since 1892. Hell, Georgia is indirectly responsible — sort of — for Auburn’s famous “War Eagle” chant. (According to legend, an eagle — the pet of an Auburn Civil War vet — circled the field above that first game, rallied Auburn to a 10-0 victory, and then dramatically died. Not even Auburn scholars believe it, but it’s a good tale.)

A more tangible and provable reality is this: Auburn pushed two-time defending national champion Georgia to the limit last year, leaping out to a 10-0 lead and staying tied into the fourth quarter. Brock Bowers was the difference for Georgia, as he so often was, and the Dawgs escaped Jordan-Hare with a necessary-but-too-harrowing 27-20 victory.

Bowers, though, is now in silver and black, not red and black. And Auburn, for what it’s worth, carries the memories of that near-miss into 2024.

“We had a chance in the fourth quarter,” Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne said earlier this week. “Unfortunately wasn’t able to come out on top. But they’re a great team, a championship team who’s done it before, and have a lot of respect for them. But at the same time you take from last year we can play with the top teams in the country and we’ve proved that multiple times.”

For his part, Smart is going to do his best to make sure his players understand exactly how important this game is — not just from a 2024 perspective, but a rivalry one, too.

“We had history lessons. We had coaches that told us the history of every game,” he said Tuesday. “I don’t think these kids know as much. They don’t watch football, a lot of them. They play it, but they don’t watch it. … They’re going to be on their phone, looking at social media and doing whatever. They’re not going to watch. It’s just not what they do anymore, so I think it’s important to make sure they understand.”

Georgia and Auburn kick off at 3:30 Eastern Time at Sanford Stadium in Athens. If all goes according to Georgia’s plan, the Dawgs will make an easy meal out of the Tigers and get back on the lead foot. (Paw?) If not, well, another team from the next state over will have kicked over Georgia’s promising 2024 … and then there will be no margin for error any longer.