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Wasson: To be The Man in the SEC, Kirby Smart and Georgia have to beat The Man
By David Wasson
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A very wise man, whose driver’s license reads Richard Morgan Fliehr, once opined that “to be The Man, you gotta beat The Man.”
That credo popped into my brain this weekend when discussing Saturday’s all-caps HUGE matchup between No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia with my editor – a usually wise soul who keeps me pointed in the correct direction, but one who has a Peach State-sized blind spot for Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs.
Don’t get me wrong here: Smart is an incredibly accomplished person, almost as much as my editor (P.S.: can I have a raise?). But for Smart to finally drive the proverbial nail in the proverbial coffin that has haunted him for the better part of the 9 seasons he has spent coaching his beloved alma mater, he has to beat Alabama.
That’s because Smart’s daddy has been The Man himself, Nick Saban.
Don’t get me wrong here, part two: Yes, Georgia mouth-breathers, we know Saban ain’t patrolling the Alabama sideline anymore. We all remember Jan. 10, 2024, as the day Bulldogs should be celebrating as their real Independence Day when Saban announced his retirement.
Yes, everyone remembers that Georgia beat Saban in the 2021 national title game before repeating as champs in 2022 – and also have a decent argument that the Dawgs got jobbed out of the opportunity to play for another just last year.
But who denied you that opportunity in the SEC title game? Alabama did. And who is 5-1 against Smart’s Bulldogs since 2016 – including last December in the SEC title game? Alabama is.
Now that Saban has seamlessly transitioned from owning the SEC to verbally jousting with Pat McAfee and the rest of the ESPN College GameDay crew, Saturday poses the very best chance for Smart to finally exorcise all the demons that Alabama carries with it and make the best conference in the land finally his own.
That is the central storyline that will dominate this week, both around water coolers in both Georgia and Alabama and on talk-radio airwaves throughout the Southeast. Georgia might be capital-G great and all, but can you really be capital-G great when you’ve only been the second-best program in your own conference during this dominant 8-year stretch?
For the SEC to be Georgia’s possession lock, stock and barrel, the Bulldogs need to get Alabama on Saturday when the Tide are arguably at their weakest moment in the past decade. Saban’s departure led to a minor talent exodus before Kalen DeBoer reeled some potential portalers back to Tuscaloosa. And even with quarterback Jalen Milroe in the early Heisman Trophy talk, Alabama somehow feels more gettable now than they have in a long time.
Excusing the curious escape Georgia needed 2 weeks ago in Lexington, Georgia has looked every bit the part of class bully so far in 2024. Abusing Clemson 34-3 and dispatching Tennessee Tech 48-3 to start the season, the Bulldogs put on their road duds and nearly laid a dud to Kentucky – escaping Kroger Field with a 13-12 victory that ultimately dropped them a spot behind Texas in the national rankings.
No matter what has happened with either squad so far, though, this game has been circled on both teams’ schedules – and the schedule that ABC shelled out bazillions for when they replaced CBS as the broadcast overlords of the conference. Bryant-Denny Stadium will be insane by the time toe meets leather at 7:30 pm, as both fan bases will be well-lubricated by the time the rest of the nation joins them.
Smart, who will only be asked about his record against Alabama about 4,198 times in the coming week, will undoubtedly be followed by a camera from the second he steps onto the Saban Field turf to well beyond the final gun. That’s how it works when you’re 1-5 against the biggest bully on the block.
And while both the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide have all their own motivations to shine bright like diamonds under the bright lights Saturday night, the undeniable subtext of the whole deal will be whether Georgia can finally escape Saban and Alabama’s shadow to cast one of their own.
To be The Man, you gotta beat The Man – yep, Ric Flair knew what he was talking about when he ruled the rasslin’ world back in the day. And that truism holds true Saturday night not inside a sold-out Omni Arena in downtown Atlanta but inside a sold-out Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Man who coached The Man might be gone, but if Georgia ever wants to own the SEC like a glittering, oversized gold championship belt, Smart and his Dawgs gotta walk that Saban Field aisle and take it from Alabama.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
