More than just a game

The stakes could not be higher for each team as we approach the showdown in Sanford on Saturday afternoon.

For Georgia, Saturday is the beginning of an October that is sure to define the 2015 season. Four games in five weeks that will challenge Georgia more than they have been challenged all season. 

Momentum is a huge factor in college football, and starting the month off with a win over Alabama would make it a lot more plausible for Georgia to make it to the Dome for the SEC title game.

Let’s be honest about Georgia’s schedule. Every one of the games that were circled on Georgia’s calendar at the beginning of the season are easier today than we thought they were going to be. Tennessee, Auburn, and Tech have all lost two games already this season. Missouri and Florida are still undefeated, but both teams seem to be very beatable and full of holes. Even Alabama is more flawed than we thought they would be coming into this game. Georgia is favored on Saturday afternoon over Alabama, something that hasn’t happened to the Tide in five seasons. Georgia will most likely be favored in all of their remaining games this season. Amazing as it sounds, Georgia has to be considered, on paper, to be a favorite to not only win the SEC East, the SEC, but also a legit contender for the College Football Playoff.

So now would be exactly the right time for the wheels to fall off and leave the entire Bulldog nation sitting around, lamenting what could have been.

Georgia has come up incredibly small in the spots over the last few years.

2012: losses to South Carolina and Alabama in the two biggest games of the season.

2013: home loss to Missouri and road loss to Auburn.

2014: road loss to an average South Carolina team, loss in Jacksonville to a bad Florida team, and a bad home loss to Tech.

The program feels different these days. Coach Richt is talking a lot about focus, where he used to be aw shucksing during press conferences. Coach Richt’s job isn’t on the line Saturday, but he has the chance to change the perception of his program and himself.

At the beginning of his career, Richt was known for winning big games, but his teams’ recent failures have made most fans forget about wins on the road at Tennessee in 2001, in Tuscaloosa in 2002, at home against LSU in 2004, the Blackout against Auburn, and so forth.

So what is at stake for Georgia? Everything.

On the other side of the field, there will be a team even more desperate.

After losing to Ole Miss two weeks ago, the season would officially be over for Alabama if they fail to win in Sanford Stadium on Saturday. This program has set the standard in college football for the last seven years, and now they have that incredibly high standard to live up to year in and year out. Expectations in Tuscaloosa start with SEC titles and assume a shot at a National Championship. A loss on Saturday would put the Tide in uncharted territory, 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the SEC. Season over. Finished. Pave the way for the Outback Bowl.

Obviously Alabama would have to play the games remaining on their schedule this season, but they won’t matter. A loss against Georgia would render the rest of the season pointless for their fan base, and I dare say, their coach. Without a national title to keep Saban motivated, he might just let someone else coach the games so he can hit the recruiting trail to make sure another tragedy like this one would never happen again.

Going back to the loss against Ohio State last January, pundits nationwide have been speculating on the fall of the Alabama Dynasty. The conversation ramped up after Alabama’s home loss to Ole Miss two weeks ago. A loss at Georgia on Saturday would, in my opinion stop the conversation. Dynasties are build on winning championships, and this would be the third straight season without a national title, after winning 3 out of four titles from 2009-2012. The end of Alabama’s dynasty doesn’t mean that Bama won’t be good anymore, just that the era of dominance is over in Tuscaloosa, and with the level of talent in the SEC West, it is unlikely to ever return to the level it was at just a few years ago.

So what's at stake for Alabama? Everything.

Each year there are multiple games that garner national attention. There are other games that are important in the chase for a title. Still there are other games that are program defining for one of the two teams participating. Saturday is a combination of all of the above. The stakes for each team could not be higher, and the anticipation for this game is as high as any since Mark Richt has been the head coach of Georgia.

Sometimes there is symmetry in sports, and it would be incredibly appropriate if the Alabama Dynasty, which was born in Athens, Georgia on September 27, 2008 ended in the same place nearly 7 years after that fateful game. That game changed the trajectory of both teams, and this game could very well do the same.