A game that is unlikely to disappoint

Georgia and Alabama don’t play that often, but in the past 15 years, when they do play, the game rarely disappoints.

The recent history of the Georgia/Alabama series started back in 2002 when an up and coming Georgia team traveled to Tuscaloosa where Georgia had never won before.

Leading up to the game, former Auburn coach and Georgia graduate, Pat Dye, said Georgia wasn’t “man enough” to beat Alabama.

Georgia came out and played very well at the start of the game and had a 12 point lead in the fourth quarter, before the Crimson Tide stormed back to a one point lead. Behind David Greene, Georgia got into field goal range, where Billy Bennett kicked at 32-yard field goal to give Georgia the 27-25 win. The win propelled Georgia on to its first SEC title since the days of Herschel Walker.

One year later, Alabama was falling apart when they came to Athens. Georgia dominated the first half of the game, leading 30-3 before Alabama had even made a single first down. Alabama made yet another comeback, but this one fell well short as the Dawgs completed the two game sweep 37-23.

Those first two games in the series were about one team on the rise, Georgia, and one team failing to rekindle past glory, Alabama. Despite what Alabama fans might remember, there was football played between 1992 and 2008, there just wasn’t a lot of good football played by Alabama. Each time the 

Tide hired a new coach, the shadow of the Bear loomed large over the coach and the program in general.

In early 2007, Alabama hired Nick Saban from the Miami Dolphins, and there was again hope that there would be a return to past glory. We all know that Saban would turn things around for the Tide, but in 2007, nothing was guaranteed. Ironically, the Georgia/Alabama series was back on in 2007 as the Dawgs headed back to Tuscaloosa trying to make it three straight wins over the Tide.

Alabama was having an up and down season under their new coach, and Georgia had already lost to South Carolina at home. The loser of this game wasn’t going to have the type of season they each hoped for.

It was a battle of two top 25 teams that was back and forth then entire game. Neither team led by more than 10 points at any time. Just as they did 5 years earlier, Alabama came back in the fourth quarter tying the game at 20 with only one minute left in regulation. For the first time in the history of the rivalry, the game went to overtime.

Alabama got the ball first but didn’t move a yard. The Tide had to settle for a field goal, leaving the door open for the Dawgs to win with a touchdown. Georgia wasted no time as Matthew Stafford threw a 25-yard touchdown to Mikey Henderson on the first play of Georgia’s possession to win the game 26-23.

As it often does in this series, the game defined each team’s season to a point. Georgia would lose to Tennessee soon after their win in Tuscaloosa, but they would recover to dance on the field against Florida, Blackout Auburn, and go on to win the Sugar Bowl over Hawaii and finish the season as the #3 team in the nation.

Alabama would struggle all season finishing the season 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. The very definition of average. The low point of the season would come in November, when the Tide lost at home to Louisiana-Monroe 21-14. A win in the Independence Bowl over Colorado gave the Tide a 7-6 record for the season. No matter what any Tide fan would tell you now, no one was convinced after the 2007 season that Nick Saban was going to be the man to return the Tide to national prominence.

That would change one year later.

There has been a lot of talk about the end of the Alabama dynasty in recent weeks. The 24 hour news cycle requires people to talk more than they think, so everyone is ready to write off the Tide because they have lost a few games over the past two seasons. All good things come to an end, so at some point, the Alabama Dynasty will be over. We still don’t know when and where it will end. Only time and perspective will truly be able to answer that question, but I can tell you where it began.

September 27, 2008 in Athens, Georgia.

Alabama had upset Clemson to start the season, but when the Tide rolled into Athens, they were the team with something to prove.

Georgia started the 2008 season as the number one team in the nation behind Stafford, Moreno, and Green. Georgia was undefeated, but they were unimpressive in the first few weeks of the season, so they had dropped to number 3 in the polls.

Georgia’s seniors asked Mark Richt to allow the team to wear black jerseys against the Tide for a 7:45 pm kickoff. The UGA Athletic Association website advertised it as “Blackout Bama.” When asked about the blackout, one of the Alabama assistant coaches said that Georgia was wearing black because they were going to their own funeral. How right he was.

The Tide offense rolled up and down the field in the first half, with the Georgia defense unable to stop the Tide. Meanwhile, the vaunted Georgia offense never got going. At half time, it was 31-0. Georgia fought back to make the final score look more respectable, but at the end of the day, it was a beating.

Alabama would stay undefeated all the way to the SEC title game where they lost to eventual national champion, Florida. Georgia would lose to the Gators in Jacksonville and worst of all, to Tech at the end of the season. For a team that started as number one, three losses was a huge disappointment.

Over the next few seasons, Georgia would struggle while Alabama would win national titles.

Fate would bring the two teams back together on December 1, 2012 in the SEC title game. As it had for many of the previous seasons, the SEC title game was a defacto National Semifinal with the winner of the game poised to take on Notre Dame for the National title.

This was the first time under Mark Richt where Georgia had put themselves in position to get to the National Title game. While the Tide were favorites, Georgia was ranked 3^rd in the nation, so it wasn’t like they didn’t belong on the field.

Georgia proved that they did belong, leading the Tide by 10 points early in the third quarter. Bama came back to reclaim the lead early in the fourth quarter 25-21. Georgia, behind Todd Gurley would storm back down the field to pull ahead 28-25 with 13 minutes left in the game. After a couple of punts by each team, AJ McCarron hit Amari Cooper with a 45-yard touchdown with only 3 minutes left in the game to give Alabama the 32-28 lead.

Georgia of course would come up just short on their final drive of the game when Aaron Murray’s pass to the end zone was tipped at the line of scrimmage and caught by Chris Conley as time ran out on the Dawgs dream of playing for the National Title.

As the anticipation for Saturday’s game increases throughout the week, prepare yourself for a game that will most likely be close on Saturday, but also have long lasting repercussions for both programs.