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When Georgia takes the field against Michigan on Dec. 31, it’ll be the first time all season the Bulldogs will be coming off a loss. Georgia looked overmatched in its 41-24 defeat to Alabama on Dec. 4.

The result seems to have humbled the Georgia players, who now aim to use the loss as a positive heading into the College Football Playoff.

“I would definitely say we have a chip on our shoulder—a bad taste after that last game,” tight end John FitzPatrick said. “We don’t want to make the moment bigger than it is, and we realize that the next game is the most important game. But we’re hungry and we’re excited come the 31st.”

Offensive tackle Warren McClendon referenced the same bad taste and shoulder chip as FitzPatrick when he spoke with reporters on Monday. Those two things will need to have quite the carryover effect, as the Bulldogs will go nearly a month between games.

“It’s kind of refocused us and made us look ourselves in the mirror, get back to the grind, and get back to work,” McClendon said.

To pass the time and maintain the intensity in practice, the Bulldogs started their bowl practices by focusing mostly on themselves. The early practices during the bowl season are similar to that of an off week or spring practice.

That mostly means focusing on conditioning, good-on-good and trying to build depth late in the season.

“The challenge is there and we have really worked hard on ourselves, fundamentally and to self-scout, ' what are we giving up? What are people seeing on us? What changes can we make that would be beneficial for us,” Kirby Smart said. “That has all been our focus, is how do we get better fundamentally, not about the last game.”

One aspect where the Bulldogs have gotten some help in the depth department is that a handful of 2022 signees — reportedly including Oscar Delp, Gunner Stockton, Jalon Walker and Malaki Starks — have been able to participate in practice. They won’t make the trip down to Miami when the team leaves on Sunday but it’s a positive for the Georgia team to get some extra healthy bodies this late in the year.

When Smart spoke with reporters on Monday, he made reference to the fact that Georgia is really into only its second or third practice as far as explicitly preparing for the Wolverines. The biggest thing he’s wanted to imprint on his team is how important it will be for them to play with the requisite amount of intensity for four quarters.

Smart specifically highlighted Michigan defensive end Aidan Hutchinson as a physical embodiment of the Michigan program. Hutchinson led the Big Ten in sacks and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.

The guy that beat him for the prestigious award, Bryce Young, was the same quarterback that torched the Georgia defense in its last game. The Bulldogs know they can’t let a single player dominate them once again in that same fashion.

“We’ve talked repeatedly to our players about strain. Nothing casual. There’s not going to be anything casual about this game. It’s going to be about strain and physicality, which he prides himself on and does a tremendous job,” Smart said. “It’s an incredible opportunity for our offense to go against the likes of their defense, but it’s also going to take a lot of hard work and toughness to persevere through the game, and match that entire intensity through the game.”

Georgia can look across the sideline on Dec. 31 and see how sometimes a loss can provide a positive impact on a team’s trajectory. The Wolverines lost to Michigan State on Oct. 30, essentially leaving them with no room for error the rest of the way. Since that defeat, Michigan has won every game including double-digit wins over Ohio State and Iowa to end the season.

The Bulldogs will continue to practice in Athens this week before heading down to Miami on Sunday. By then, Georgia will have long moved on from the loss to Alabama and be fully focused on taking down Michigan.

Georgia football moves on from Alabama, focuses on Michigan

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